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AFRICAN TRAVELLER, 

OR, 5* / 

PROSPECTIVE MISSIONS 



CENTRAL AFRICA. 



BY THE AUTHOR OF 

Village Pastor, Hugh Clifford, Malvina Ashton, Sketch 
of New Zealand, fyc. 8?c. 



1 Oh, when shall Afric's sable sons, 

Enjoy the heavenly word ; 
And vassals long enslaved, become 
The freemen of the Lord ?" 



REVISED BY THE PUBLISHING COMMITTEE. 



BOSTON: 

MASSACHUSETTS SABBATH SCHOOL SOCIETY". 
Depository, No. 24, Cornhill. 



18 3 2. 






Entered according to act of Congress, in the year 1832, 

By Christopher C. Dean, 
in the Clerk's Office of the District Court of Massachusetts* 



A/> fy 



PREFACE. 



My little friends, — I presume many of you have read "Hugh 
Clifford/' or Prospective Missions to the North West coast, and 
the Washington Islands ; which I prepared for you several months 
ago. 

I now send you an account of Central Africa, and if health 
and leisure permit, you may one day hear about Abyssinia, and 
other eastern states of Africa, and of the most southern king- 
doms, and the missions there established by the benevolence of 
•British Christians. If your interest for the poor heathen in- 
creases, I may send you a series of little volumes, describing 
the customs, manners and morals of the inhabitants of China, 
and the neighboring islands of Java, Sumatra, Bali, &c. &c, 
in the hope and expectation that your efforts to bless the world 
with the gospel of Jesus Christ, will be proportioned to your 
knowledge of its wants and woes occasioned by ignorance and 
sin. 

Boston, July 20, 1832. 



THE AFRICAN TRAVELLER. 



CHAPTER I. 

41 Yes, Afric's sunny skies havegleam'd 
On many a scene sublime ; 
But more than hope has ever dream'd 
Is destined for that clime." 

" Uncle Byram, did you ever see Major 
Denham?" said Charles Granville one day as 
he was walking with his uncle Spencer, soon 
after his return from a long voyage. 

Byram Spencer. Yes ; I met him at Tripoli 
while preparing for his expedition into the inte- 
rior. 

Charles. I often think I would do or suffer 
almost anything, to know all that has been dis- 
covered of the central parts of Africa. 

Byram. Within a few years several large 
books have been published by travellers who 
have penetrated farther into the interior of Afri- 
ca, than any who had preceded them. I have 
made myself acquainted with their observations, 
1 



6 THE AFRICAN TRAVELLER. 

and have seen enough of the desert to know 
that their statements may be relied on. 

Charles. I wish you would relate to me what 
you have seen, and gathered from others. 

Byram. What do you already know about it? 

Charles. My father and aunt Caroline have 
communicated many pleasing facts to me and 
my sisters connected with the Colonization So- 
ciety's operations in the United States, and at 
Liberia, and those accounts have increased my 
anxiety to become more thoroughly acquainted , 
with all parts of that country. I have heard 
some curious ideas advanced at school respect- 
ing Africa ; do you believe, uncle, that those 
immense deserts were ever covered by the ocean? . 

Byram. I hardly know what to believe about 
it ; some learned men treat the subject in a way 
to make th3 thing look at least probable ; but if 
it ever did, violent changes have long since 
taken place in that part of the world. 

I should like to hear what you know of the 
situation and size of Africa. 

Charles. It is a vast peninsula, five thousand 
miles in length, and about four thousand five 
hundred in breadth, with but few gulfs and bays. 
The largest indenture towards the north is the 
gulf of Sidra, and on the south-west coast, the 
gulf of Guinea. 

Byram. How far apart ? 
Charles. Nearly eighteen hundred miles. 
The northern parts run along the shores of the 
Mediterranean, and the continent tapers down 



THE AFRICAN TRAVELLER. 7 

to the cape of Good Hope, and if viewed 
from the north resembles a sugar-loaf. 

Byram. If a peninsula, it must join some 
other continent, or body of land — does it? 

Charles. Yes ; it joins Asia, at the Isthmus 
of Suez, which, in a strait line, measures only 
seventy miles across. 

Byram. Is it a mountainous or level country? 

Charles. It may be generally called a level 
country, though there are many celebrated 
ranges of mountains, such as the Jebbel Kumri, 
or mountains of the moon, which lie south of 
Abysinia ; and some think they extend into the 
heart of the continent. The Kong are by some 
said to be a continuation of the same range. 

Mount Atlas lines nearly the whole length of 
the north coast, and it comprises five or six 
small chains, rising one behind another, includ- 
ing many table lands; though some assert that, as 
they approach the desert, they are thrown up 
into inaccessible peaks. Uncle, do you think 
this is the same Atlas described by Homer and 
Virgil ? 

Byram. No; I am inclined to think that 
their Atlas was the peak of Teneriffe. Do you 
know much of the state of society in Africa? 

Charles. I do not ; but I have often asked 
after the origin of the Moors particularly, though 
I never gained a satisfactory answer. I wish 
you would tell me about them, as well as the 
Africans. 

Byram. The Moors are a mixture of the 
ancient Mauritanians and Numidians; the Van- 



g THE AFRICAN TRAVELLER. 

dais from the north, the Saracens and Turks 
from the east, and the Brebers, who were the 
original inhabitants of Central Africa; and hav- 
ing been driven back, they now occupy the 
mountainous parts of the interior. These na- 
tions have so long been assimilating, that it is 
with difficulty they can now be distinguished. 
The desert country lying between the States 
of Barbary and the populous kingdoms of Cen- 
tral Africa is at present occupied, so far as it is 
capable of supporting inhabitants, by a people 
usually called Arabs, not, however, because they 
are all descended from Arabian parentage, but 
because they lead the same wandering, preda- 
tory lives. They consist of several races, called 
Shouas, Tuaricks and Tibboos ; they use dif- 
ferent dialects of the same language, are all 
bigotted Moslems, and excel other African na- 
tions in the use of firearms. 

Charles, What are Moslems ? 

Byram. You have read of the impostor Ma- 
homet, Charles, I presume. " O yes, a thousand 
times," said he, " are his followers called Mos- 
lems?" 

Byram. Yes, they are called Moslems, Ma- 
hometans, and Mohammedans ; and his religion 
is often called Islamism. 

Charles. What a curious medley the inhabi- 
tants of Africa must be ! 

Byram. It is true. Many millions of hu- 
man beings are there found, vastly different in 
form, color, religion, and government. From 
large empires governed by kings and sultans^ 



THE AFRICAN TRAVELLER. 9 

to petty provinces, no larger than one of our 
smallest counties, governed by a chief. Some 
of these people enjoy unbounded freedom, while 
others are the slaves of a cruel despot. 

Many of these tribes wander about with their 
flocks and herds in search of fresh pasture, 
while others bearing arms wander to plunder all 
they have power to overcome. Others have per- 
manent habitations, and live in commercial 
cities engaged in trade. 

Charles. How do they carry on trade so far 
inland as some of the nations must be situated? 

By ram. Commerce is carried on by meails 
of caravans, and is almost wholly internal; some 
caravans are composed of from two or three 
hundred persons to two thousand. Once in 
two or three years, three large caravans go from 
Cairo to the central kingdoms of Africa. One 
to Sennaar, one to Darfour, and one to Mor- 
zouk; the one to the latter is often sent annu- 
ally. From Fezzan, two caravans leave yearly, 
one to Bornou, and one to Kashna, while 
another still larger goes from Marraus to Tim- 
buctoo, by the way of Tatta. 

Charles. What is the complexion of all these 
people ? 

Byram. It varies from the deepest black, to 
every other hue but white. Negroes of all de- 
scriptions, from flat noses, thick lips, receding 
foreheads and frizzled hair, to the equally black, 
but straight and prominent features, and long 
thin hair of the interior. You will often see the 



10 THE AFRICAN TRAVELLER. 

dusky Moor, the olive colored Arab, and tawney 
Egyptian in the same group. 

Charles. O I should be delighted to travel 
in Africa ; did not you enjoy it very much, uncle 
Byram ? 

Byram. I never travelled far into the coun- 
try myself, but I have conversed with so many 
merchants and travellers upon the situation and 
condition of different places and people, that I 
feel almost as well acquainted in Africa, as in 
the United States. 

Charles. How far did you ever go into the 
country from Tripoli, uncle ? 

Byram. Only to Sockna. 

Charles. Will you please to describe the 
country to me? 

Byram. Having crossed some of the most 
beautiful small valleys, there called wadeys, I 
entered one called Benioleed, which is hemmed 
in on all sides by hills, some of them four hun- 
dred feet high, crowned with lava and stones of 
a greenish hue — on the topmost parts of these 
hills, an extensive, dreary plain commences, cov- 
ered with sand and loose stones, and stretches 
away to the east as far as the eye can reach. 
There are a few openings among these ridges 
which lead to other valleys more or less exten- 
sive, some parts of which are fruitful, and others 
barren. Wherever there was any vegetation, I 
found groves of accacia-trees, but often travelled 
miles without seeing even a blade of grass, or 
any green thing ; the whole surface of the 



THE AFRICAN TRAVELLER. H 

ground being a firm sand, with here and there 
a dark rocky eminence. 

Charles, Uncle Byram, what kind of a tree 
is the accacia 1 

Byram. The accacia of the United States 
is the tree we call locust ; but the Egyptian 
and African accacia, or locust-tree, is not so 
valuable for timber as ours, but it is most valu- 
able as a medicinal tree, from which exudes 
gum arabic, so much used as a medicine in va- 
rious disorders. 

Charles. Are the sandy valleys generally 
destitute of grass? 

Byram. Yes ; excepting here and there 
island-like vales, called oases. These spots are 
very charming, as they denote springs of water ; 
and being covered with grass, and containing a 
few shade trees, flowering plants, and cool foun- 
tains, travellers rejoice exceedingly when one is 
discovered in the distance. After leaving one 
of these beautiful resting places, I ascended a 
low range of brown, gloomy hills, the horizon 
bounded by others higher, and darker, looking 
like fortifications. The kafiia, or caravan in 
which I travelled, was not large, and day after 
day we toiled on without seeing a human being 
out of our company, till within about three days 
of Sockna, when we met one or two small cara- 
vans composed chiefly of slaves from the king- 
doms of Begharmi, Soudan, and Bornou, all 
dressed in the peculiar costume of their respec- 
tive countries. 



12 THE AFRICAN TRAVELLER. 

Charles. How long does it take to travel 
from Tripoli to Sockna ? 

Byram. If you have a prosperous journey, 
you may reach it in about two weeks; though 
a traveller is by no means sure of arriving at 
any given time. 

Charles. Is the town of Sockna situated on 
one of the desert plains ? 

Byram. No; it is surrounded by several 
small fruitful valleys abounding with date-trees, 
which afford sustenance to man and beast all 
along the verge of the desert, and the smaller 
oases, that spot that vast wilderness of sand. 

Charles. I never saw a date-tree, uncle ; is it 
a very large tree ? 

Byram. It is not so majestic as the palm of 
India, though still a beautiful tree, rising in one 
cylindrical column fifty or sixty feet, without 
throwing out one shoot or branch. Its diameter 
is the same from the bottom to the top, and 
usually from a foot to eighteen inches. This 
elegant tree is crowned at the top, with firm, 
shining, and tapering feather-like leaves, from 
eight to twelve feet long, of a bright lively green. 
The flowers come out in large bunches from 
between the leaves, and the first ripe fruit is 
ready to harvest the last of June, or the early 
part of July, and continues to ripen about two 
months. Camels, and other animals eat it when 
dry, with as much avidity as our horses eat corn, 
oats, and barley. 

Charles. All the palm-trees are very useful, 



THE AFRICAN TRAVELLER. 13 

more so than almost any others, uncle, are they 
not? 

Byram. Yes ; in many parts of the world I 
do not see how the inhabitants could be support- 
ed without them. The sago palm affords a 
great deal of nourishment. The trunk of one 
tree of fourteen or fifteen years' growth, will fur- 
nish six hundred pounds of sago. A single acre 
of land has been known to support between four 
and five hundred sago palms, which furnished 
annually one hundred twenty millions and five 
hundred pounds of good sago. 

Charles. Does the sago palm grow in the 
same plantation with the date palm ? 

'By ram. O no; the date-tree loves a dry, 
sandy soil, and the sago palm such a soil as is 
found in the islands east of China, and the lands 
bordering upon some of the great rivers of 
South America. 

Charles. I thank you for this information; 
I have often wished to know where and how 
sago was procured, but no person ever before 
told me that it was the substance of the trunk 
of a tree ! 

Now, uncle, will you please to tell me more 
about the town of Sockna? 

By ram. It is a walled town, having eight 
gates, and it contains upwards of three thousand 
inhabitants. The houses and streets are un- 
commonly neat, for an African town of only a 
mile in circumference. 

The females dress like the ladies of Tripoli, 
in striped silk or linen robes, with armlets, 



]4 THE AFRICAN TRAVELLER. 

and leglets, or pantaletts of the same ; a profu- 
sion of jewels of silver, glass, and horn, are worn 
by every class, each displaying wealth and taste, 
in proportion to her rank and means. This 
town is about half way between Tripoli and 
Morzouk, and is utterly destitute of a single 
preacher of righteousness — Sabbath school — or 
Christian institution of any kind. Indeed, I could 
not discover that there was a person in the place 
professing Christianity. I tried to converse 
with the people about the Lord Jesus Christ, 
and the way of salvation, but the Moslems in- 
terrupted me, by saying " There is no God, but 
God, and Mahomet is his prophet." 

Charles. Can you see that Mohammedans 
are in any better condition, in reference to their 
immortal interests, than simple idolaters ? 

Byram. No, I cannot ; and I fear their pre- 
judices and superstitions will longer resist the 
influences of truth, than those of the heathen. 

It makes my heart ache to think of the real 
state of the greater part of the present popula- 
tion of the globe ; less than one in sixteen of its 
inhabitants profess to be protestants ; and even 
of those that do profess to believe that regener- 
ation is necessary to salvation, few, compara- 
tively, give any evidence of being renewed 
persons. It is a melancholy subject for consid- 
eration. 

I have been watching all your words and ac- 
tions, Charles, from the hour of my return, 
hoping to gain evidence that you have obtained 
a new heart, but hitherto I have been disap* 



THE AFRICAN TRAVELLER. 15 

pointed ; how is it, that with all your knowledge 
of revelation, you can remain quiet in an unsanc- 
tified state 1 

Charles. Perhaps you think I feel more 
quiet than I really do ; for a day of peace and 
tranquillity I have not known for many weeks ; 
thoughts of death, judgment, and eternity, fol- 
low me wherever I go. Sins of omission and 
of commission stare me in the face continually. 
Half my nights have of late been spent waking, 
trembling, and weeping ; I have often wished to 
open my mind to my mother, or to you, but 
could never summon resolution ; and how I 
ventured now, is more than I can tell ; but I am 
very unhappy, and know not what to do. 

Byram. There is only one thing for you to 
do, and that you must do or perish. You have 
broken God's law, and you feel your guilt in his 
presence — and will you not repent of your past 
wickedness, and turn from it, and from this 
hour obey the commandment, to submit, repent, 
and believe? 

You have hitherto loved sin, and served your- 
self and the world, and no wonder ,you are 
unhappy ; it is impossible in the nature of things 
for you to be otherwise, while you hate what 
God loves, and love what he opposes. When- 
ever you will break away from the dominion of 
self and the world, and come over on God's side, 
he will take away this hard and stony heart, and 
give a humble and contrite one. You have 
been presented with the most powerful motives 



16 THE AFRICAN TRAVELLER. 

to turn to God and live, from your infancy; 
parental and ministerial warnings, exhortations, 
and prayers have been unceasing, and how often 
have Christian missionaries, both in the pulpit 
and at your father's fireside, entreated you to 
accept of the offers of mercy, and engage in the 
service of Christ without delay. I will add my 
entreaties to theirs, and beseech you to submit 
to the only terms of discipleship at once. 

You think that you are in earnest about seek- 
ing an interest in Christ. Do you daily search 
the Scriptures with prayer, for divine light and 
guidance, or are you merely attempting to 
pacify conscience by the performance of cold 
and formal duties? 

Charles. I do not know, uncle ; my mind is 
full of darkness and confusion. These lines 
express my feelings better than I can do it, 
putting the two following verses into Mr. Spen- 
cer's hand : 

" If I attempt to pray, 

And raise my soul on high, 
JVJy thoughts are hurried fast away, 
For sin is ever nigh. 

If in God's word I look, 

Such darkness fills my mind, 
I only read a sealed book, 

And no relief can find." 

Byram. I will repeat two verses as a suitable 
reply, and hope you will remember them : 

" God to thy soul no anguish brings, 

From thine own stubborn will it springs ; 



THE AFRICAN TRAVELLER. 17 

That foe subdue,, the foe within — 
Then shall thy joy and peace begin. 

Thy sovereign Father, good, and kind, 
Wants but to have his child resign'd 3 

Wants but thy yielding heart, no more — 
With his rich gifts of grace to store." 

By this time they had returned nearly home 
from a longer walk than usual, and as Charles 
had wept much during the latter part of the 
conversation, his uncle proposed they should 
stop and rest under the shade of a large oak 
tree by the road side, to recover himself, before 
entering the house. The conversation con- 
tinued till Janette and Clara Granville discover- 
ed them under the oak from the parlor window, 
and ran out to welcome and lead them into the 
house. 



CHAPTER II. 



€ * Lord, sit thy throne where Satan reigns, 
On Afric's shore, on India's plains, 
On wilds, and continents unknown ; 
And be the universe thine own." 



Charles retired immediately after prayers, 
and his uncle mentioned to his brother Granville 
and his sisters, the anxious state of mind in 
which he had found Charles to be ; they all 
believed in the efficacy of prayer, and that night 
was spent according to the dictates of faith by 
every member of that household, who knew the 
way to a throne of grace. 

Mr. Spencer, Mrs. Granville, and Miss Caro- 
line Spencer, were to start at daybreak on a 
journey, from which they did not return for 
nearly a week. Before leaving home, each 
wrote Charles an affectionate note, urging him 
to cast himself upon Christ without reserve, and 
assuring him of their remembrance of him 
during their absence. 

It was late when they returned home, and the 
family were in bed, excepting faithful Peter, who 



THE AFRICAN TRAVELLER. 19 

had prepared a slight repast, and waited to re- 
ceive them. 

Mr. Spencer retired to his room immediately, 
and found a paper, neatly folded, lying on his 
table directed to him ; upon opening it he read 
as follows : 

" Welcome, welcome, dear Redeemer, 
Welcome to this heart of mine : 
Lord, I make a full surrender, 
Every power and thought be thine, 
Thine entirely, 
Thro' eternal ages thine." 

"My dear uncle, — If I am not awfully de- 
ceived, the above lines are the sincere expressions 
of the present feelings of your unworthy, but 
happy nephew. Charles Granville." 

Tears of gratitude flowed plentifully, as this 
good man bowed the knee and poured forth his 
thanksgivings to God, for the enlightening and 
sanctifying influences of the Holy Spirit, wh'o 
he could not doubt had sealed this dear child's 
soul to be the Lord's forever. 

The next morning, on being called upon to 
lead the devotions of the family, Mr. Spencer 
gave out these verses to be sung : 

* $ 'Tis past — the dreadful stormy night 
Is gone, with all its fears ! 
And now I see returning light, 
The Lord, my Sun, appears. 

Oh wondrous change ! hut just before 
Despair beset me round ; 



20 THE AFRICAN TRAVELLER. 

I heard the lion's horrid roar, 
And trembled at the sound. 

But Jesus pity'd my distress ; 

He heard my feeble cry, 
Revealed his blood, and righteousness, 

And brought salvation nigh. 

Dear Lord, since thou hast broke my bands, 

And set the captive free, 
I would devote my tongue, my hands, 

My heart, my all to thee." 

While the family were singing, Charles' eyes 
sparkled, and his whole countenance glowed 
with unusual animation; and when the two last 
lines fell from his lips, the fervent tones of his 
voice testified to the sincerity and warmth of his 
emotions. 

Before the family dispersed, with much 
humility he confessed what he hoped the Lord 
had done for his soul within the past week ; his 
father gave him excellent instructions, and ex- 
pressed the devout .thankfulness of his heart to 
the Lord for his great goodness to his beloved 
child. 

A day or two after this confession of his hope 
in Christ, he took his little sisters into the 
garden, and in the most tender and affectionate 
manner urged them to go to Jesus, and give 
him their hearts, repeating the precious promises 
of the Bible to the young, who seek the salva- 
tion of their souls. 

Seeing their uncle returning from one of his 
customary afternoon walks, they all ran to meet 



THE AFRICAN TRAVELLER. 21 

him, and leading him through the garden gate 
to the old settee, which had been placed under 
a tree in one corner of the garden, Charles told 
him that his feelings towards the Moors and 
Africans had undergone a great change since 
he described his tour from Tripoli to Sockna, 
and requested him to tell him and his sisters 
every thing relating to the state of society in 
the whole of Central Africa. 

Mr. Spencer replied, " I shall not be able to 
do that, Charles ; for as yet the whole has not 
been explored, but there are many kingdoms 
which have been recently visited by well inform- 
ed travellers, whose veracity has never been 
questioned ; of their statements, I will select 
enough to give you a tolerable idea of several 
countries which have heretofore been but little 
known. 

" The country from Sockna to Morzouk, the 
capital of Fezzan, is far more dreary than from 
Tripoli to the former place ; the water is more 
scarce and less pure, being generally brackish 
and bitter. Few travellers are so highly favor- 
ed as to escape a sand wind, as it is called, in 
crossing from Sockna to Morzouk. It some- 
times comes upon a caravan with such power as 
to overwhelm it under a mountain of sand, 
which in former times perhaps had buried in 
one common ruin, a tenfold larger caravan of 
men, camels, sheep, and merchandize, the 
bones and fragments of which this storm may 
have left exposed, lying in every direction, to be 
2* 



22 THE AFRICAN TRAVELLER. 

viewed by the next caravan that escapes so 
dreadful a death." 

Janeite. How do these sand storms com- 
mence ? 

Byram. The fine sand with which the earth 
is covered, rises in the air by the tremendous 
blast, obscuring the sun and sky, and increasing 
till the camels cannot be distinguished at the 
distance of two yards. 

Clara. Why, uncle, they seem like a New 
England snow storm, do they not? 

By ram. In some respects they do ; but in- 
stead of the cold attending the snow storm, the 
sand storm is accompanied by the suffocating 
heat of the desert, which is almost insupportable 
at all times ; and in addition to it, the oppressive 
weight of the sand which drives against you, 
makes it far more dreadful than any snow storm 
that 1 ever witnessed. 

Parched and exhausted, the tongues of the 
horses hang out of their mouths, as you have 
seen those of laboring oxen in a hot day in July. 
When the wind abates, and the atmosphere 
becomes clear and bright, the sand is in heaps, 
like large snow drifts, and the prospect is boun- 
ded by ranges of hills, some conical, others 
table-topped. If the traveller is overtaken by a 
sand storm in the night, his tent will in all 
probability be blown down ; or if that should not 
happen, however tight he may drive the pegs to 
keep his tent close, he will find his body sur- 



THE AFRICAN TRAVELLER. 23 

rounded by sand drifts a foot high when he 
awakes. 

A few miles north of Morzouk there is a beau- 
tiful village, situated in the midst of an immense 
grove of palm-trees, which none but desert 
travellers know how to prize ; not so much from 
their grateful shade, and delightful fruit, as the 
cool wells of pure water that abound in that ver- 
dant spot. 

The city of Morzouk is surrounded by a wall 
twenty feet high, with gates just wide enough 
to allow a loaded camel to squeeze through. 
Whoever visits the sultan's palace, must pass 
the slave-market, and a wide street of consider- 
able length, which leads into a large square; 
from one side of this the walls of the palace rise, 
of equal height to the town walls, with a 
spacious gate leading to the palace yard. 

There the guests of the sultan find excellent 
accommodations for Africa; but the heat is so 
very oppressive in April, that it is almost insup- 
portable to Europeans ; the thermometer rises 
from ninety to a hundred at noon in the coolest 
spot you can find, and the nights are scarcely a 
degree cooler, while myriads of flies torment the 
fatigued traveller, till he finds a refuge from their 
annoyance in the deepest shades of night. 

Charles. Who are the inhabitants? 

Byram. Tuaricks, Tibboos, and Fezzanese. 
The Tuaricks have large mild black eyes, and 
all those in Morzouk wear black masks in pub- 
lic. Travellers in Central Africa usually take 



24 THE AFRICAN TRAVELLER. 

Arab guides, who are useful, and agreeable pro 
tectors, as well as servants; they have a re- 
markable facility in beguiling the way by their 
wit and extempore songs. Some of them will 
sing an hour, describing every circumstance 
that has transpired in a journey of two or three 
weeks, in tolerable poetry, and such exquisite 
humor, that every body is surprised and delight- 
ed. Some of their traditionary ballads are really 
beautiful. 

The Arabs, as they are found in the interior 
of Africa, have very thin forms, but their fea- 
tures are handsome. They are brave, and elo- 
quent, though of exceedingly irritable tempers; 
their common tones, and questions in conversa- 
tion, when in the most pleasant mood, would be 
likely to give a stranger the impression that in- 
stead of conversing they were quarreling. 

Their dress and habits are almost precisely 
the same now, that they were centuries ago. 
They shave the head and wash often, in obedi- 
ence to the rites of the Mohammedan religion ; 
but owing to a variety of causes, they are perse- 
cuted with vermin, as unmercifully as all other 
persons in those regions. 

Expertness in the use of arms, horsemanship, 
and hospitality, are three things upon which 
all Arabs pride themselves. An irregular, rov- 
ing, martial life is their delight; and they are 
scattered over all the negro kingdoms of Central 
Africa. 

Scrupulously exact to their word, their great- 



THE AFRICAN TRAVELLER. 25 

est foes enter fearlessly into their dwellings upon 
a promise of protection, and before any harm 
should befall any one whom they had received 
into their tent, or camp, the owner would put 
his own life to hazard in their defence. 

However, with all these noble traits of charac- 
ter, they are a malicious, cruel, and rapacious 
people. They are celebrated for their quick- 
ness of apprehension, penetration, vivacity, and 
wit, and are such amusing story-tellers, that 
those attached to the establishments of the great, 
will keep large circles sitting with fixed atten- 
tion a hundred nights in succession. 

The Tuaricks inhabit the country west of 
Morzouk, and generally appear armed with 
spears, daggers, and broad swords. The wo- 
men are free and lively; they have large black 
rolling eyes, and long hair without curls, braids, 
or oil, and straight noses. 

Clara. Are they white ? 

Byram. No, their complexion is copper color ; 
they are more noticed by the men, and treated 
with a deference nowhere else visible in that 
country. Perhaps it is because the men are 
remarkable for their good sense and grav- 
ity. 

Charles. Have they any religion, uncle ? 

Byram. They conform to the religion of 
Mohammed with their lips, but in their hearts 
despise it ; which proves them mere hypocrites, 
though the religion they pretend to have is a 
false one. Between Morzouk and Ghraat i a 



26 THE AFRICAN TRAVELLER. 

Tuarick town, there are some very curious ex- 
cavations, formerly used for dwelling places by 
the ancient inhabitants. One of them has three 
galleries, a hundred and fifty feet long and 
seven feet high, with recesses on each side which 
it is supposed were used for sleeping rooms. 

Ja?iette. Is it not a great curiosity t 

Byram. Yes it is so considered. Ghraat is 
a neat walled town containing about a thousand 
inhabitants. Other villages skirted with date- 
trees are met before entering the sandy plains 
of the desert. After crossing sand hills of vari- 
ous forms, and a beautiful green valley, the 
traveller finds his prospect bounded by conical, 
and table-topped ranges of mountains, some of 
which are thrown up into peaks reaching almost 
to the sky. At the end of one of these moun- 
tain passes, a delightful and extensive valley 
opens upon the admiring eye of the weary, half- 
famished traveller, covered with thick groves of 
the date palm, and another range of hills rises 
beyond the valley. Three hundred thousand 
date palms are now growing in one of these 
great valleys west of Morzouk. 

Heavy rains have been known to fall, and 
flood some of these vales, and occasion moun- 
tain torrents that threatened to sweep all before 
them, but they are rare; nine or ten years 
often elapse between these floods. 

Janette. Are there not towns in all the 
large valleys 1 

Byram, No ; the traveller seldom finds a 



THE AFRICAN TRAVELLER. 27 

populous town. A few straggling villages so 
very poor, that he barely finds barley and dates 
enough to satisfy himself and hungry camels 
and servants for days in succession ; and even 
wells are sometimes four or five days' journey 
apart. There are some wells a hundred feet 
deep, though water is sometimes found two feet 
from the surface of the sand. A fountain encir- 
cled by a clump of shade trees, is one of the 
most grateful objects that can be presented to 
the eye of a wanderer in the desert ; the first 
notice of his approach to it is, usually, the foot- 
prints of the jackal and fox. 

Clara. What is a jackal, uncle? 

Byrain. A beast of prey, resembling a dog 
and a wolf; indeed, I have been told that the 
only difference between these animals is in their 
hereditary habits, whether amongst the tame 
or wild varieties, The hair is thick, and of a 
dirty yellowish color, excepting the inner sur- 
face of the limbs, which is often white, and the 
end of the bushy tail, which is commonly a 
mixture of black and yellow. He is of great 
use in hot countries, and makes as good a scav- 
enger as the vulture, for his sturdy stomach 
relishes all kinds of putrid animal substances. 
They associate in large packs, and their cry, 
" echoed as it is by hundreds of similar voices 
through the woods, and amid plains," is ap- 
palling when heard at midnight for the first 
time; the first shriek which is uttered is always 
the signal for a general chorus. Tn the neigh- 



28 THE AFRICAN TRAVELLER. 

borhood of some of the missionary stations in 
India, they are very numerous, and often a soli- 
tary voice is faintly uttered, and the answering 
yell bursts out from several points at once, with- 
in a few yards perhaps of the place where the 
terrified person was sleeping. 

Janette. Is not the sand of the desert covered 
with the foot-prints of various animals? 

By ram. It doubtless would be, were it not 
for the constant blowing of the sand, which 
often obscures the camel path within an hour 
so entirely, that not the least trace of it remains 
for a considerable distance ; but it is discovered 
again the moment a spot of firm earth is met 
with. 

The valley of Sarda appears just like a sea 
coast, and the ledges of rocks are covered with 
a dark, coal-like crust, resembling those rocks 
long washed by the waves. 

This view is awfully dreary and desolate ; the 
distant hills appear like ruined castles, cathe- 
drals, and immense piles of ancient buildings. 

The springs are numerous, and this gloomy 
vale affords an excellent resting place to travel- 
lers and caravans. 

Charles. How many miles do caravans travel 
over the desert in a day ? 

Byram. Generally between twenty and thir- 
ty ; though the Arabs, mounted upon their swift 
dromedaries, traverse an astonishing distance in 
twenty-four hours. 



THE AFRICAN TRAVELLER. 29 

Janette. Are there no other valleys gloomy 
like Sarda ? 

Byram. Yes ; there is something still more 
chilling to our feelings around El Whar, sur- 
passing almost any other spot in nature. " The 
rocks and dark sand stone are of the most 
gloomy and barren appearance; the wind whist- 
ling through the narrow fissures which disdain 
to afford nourishment even to a blade of wild 
grass ; and as the poor traveller creeps under 
the lowering crags to take shelter for the night, 
stumbling at each step over the skeleton of some 
starved human being, and searching for some 
level spot on the bare rock on which to lay his 
weary body, he may easily fancy himself wan- 
dering in the wilds of desolation and despair." 

Charles. Do you suppose the persons who 
perished were travellers for the sake of making 
the gospel known, uncle ? 

Byram. No, Charles ; they were pilgrims, 
merchants, or slaves. 

Clara. Are human skeletons often found in 
the desert? 

Byram. Yes; Major Denham counted in 
one day a hundred and seven ! 

Clara. Where ? 

Byram. In Fezzan, which contains more 
than a hundred walled towns, though in the 
desert they are "few and far between. " 

Charles. Is not the route you are describing, 
through the Tuarick country? (looking on the 
map.) 

3 



3Q THE AFRICAN TRAVELLER. 

Byram. Yes ; but if you go directly from 
Morzouk to Traghan, famous for its elegant 
carpet manufactory, to Maefen, and onwards in 
that direction, you would find a still stranger 
mixture of salt and sand, and the surface of the 
road is so full of cracks, that it looks more like 
furrows of a ploughed field, than anything else. 
These cavities are often several feet deep, and 
chrystals of salt hang glittering on the edges 
like icicles. The tops of the ridges are hard, 
but the interior seems brittle, and looks like 
frost work, and a slight touch causes it to crum- 
ble away into flakes of fine salt. 

Clara. How far does it extend ? 

Byram, About twenty miles ; the water is 
plenty, and strongly tinctured with soda, but not 
in the least disagreeable. 

From this salt district you cross a vast plain 
covered with fine sand, round, and red, without 
seeing an insect, bird, or animal, out of your 
company, and having passed a low range of 
sand hills, several groups of villages surrounded 
by a green belt of date-trees, cheers the sight, 
and diversifies the scene ; and here I will leave 
you till the evening. 



CHAPTER III. 



" Saviour, bid the world rejoice, 

Send, — oh send thy truth abroad ! 
Let distant Afric hear thy voice — 
Hear it — and return to God." 



" I left you/ 5 said Mr. Spencer, " resting 
beneath the shady palms by the side of a cool 
fountain, not far from a town called Tegerby, 
where there are numerous salt-pools. The in- 
habitants of this place are black, with handsome 
features, high cheek bones, and large white 
teeth stained with muriate of soda, and a plant 
which they chew freely, as-well as snuff when- 
ever that precious article can be obtained. 

" The men wear two daggers, one eighteen 
inches long hung from the girdle or neck, the 
other of six inches is worn on the arm or wrist 
fastened to a ring. 

" The women are very ingenious, and make 
pretty baskets and bowls from the palm leaf. 
About twelve miles from this town there is a 
well named Omah, around which human skele- 
tons are always seen lying, whitening on the 
sand in shocking numbers, who have either 



32 THE AFRICAN TRAVELLER. 

perished from thirst, or when nearly famished, 
have hastened their death by drinking too freely 
of cold water. Human bones are scattered over 
the deserts in all directions, many of which once 
belonged to poor slaves, who, in being driven 
over these barren wastes, died of hunger, thirst 
and fatigue. 

" Major Denham says that when he arrived at 
the wells of El Hammar y they were ' innume- 
rable] and some of them were quite fresh. 
The whiteness and regularity of the teeth de- 
noted their youth ; two young women lay in 
each others arms, just as they had expired ; 
though the flesh had mostly wasted away, yet 
some of the skin, and most of the ligaments 
remained entire. What must have been his 
feelings as he was roused from a temporary slum- 
ber by the crashing of the bones of a human 
head upon which his horse had trampled ! " 

Charles. O, uncle, my blood curdles to hear 
it. But the most painful thoughts rest upon 
their poor lost souls. 

Byram. The lingering death they suffered 
appears trifling, in comparison of its awful con- 
sequences, I know ; yet even the horrors of the 
last are increased by the 'reflection, that no 
adequate means are in use to remedy the spir- 
itual miseries of those dark bewildered tribes, 
or to deliver the wretched victims of avarice 
from so dreadful a death. 

Janette. Was it never known where those 



THE AFRICAN TRAVELLER, 33 

persons came from, that were found dead around 
El Hammar ? 

By ram. They were mostly slaves from Bor- 
nou, and had been driven through the desert a 
year before in chains, on their way to a market ; 
but very few of the whole caravan reached Tri- 
poli, where they were fattened and sold. In 
this journey through the Tibboo country, Major 
Denham travelled six days without seeing one 
blade of grass or a leaf of any kind of vegeta- 
tion. 

Clara. What kind of people are the Tibboos, 
uncle ? 

Byram. A most disgusting, homely race, 
who chew snuff as well as put it into their great 
misshapen noses ; their nostrils are so large, 
that, to insure the admission of it into their 
heads, they are obliged to thrust their fingers as 
far as they can reach. The Tuaricks are 
always at war with them, and they plunder 
every thing capable of being removed, but do 
not take them as prisoners. Almost the whole 
distance from Fezzan to Bornou is occupied by 
the Tibboos ; they are a lighthearted, happy 
people, notwithstanding their ugliness and con- 
stant danger from their Tuarick neighbors. 

Clara. How do they obtain a livelihood in a 
country destitute of good land. 

Byram. They are mostly pedlars — travelling 
merchants to and from Morzouk and Bornou. 

The salt lakes furnish them with plenty of 
salt, which is transported on the backs of camels 
3* 



34 THE AFRICAN TRAVELLER. 

to distant markets. Some of these salt lakes 
measure a mile in circumference, and the earth 
for miles is covered with encrustations of salt. 
The natives assert that each lake contains an 
island of salt in the centre, which annually in- 
creases in size, and one of them is said to be 
fourteen or fifteen feet high, and one hundred 
in circumference. Four hundred weight of salt 
is the usual load for a camel, though six and 
seven hundred are not uncommon. I am told 
that in the midst of these saline encrustations in 
the vicinity of the lakes, fresh springs of water 
bubble out of the earth perfectly pure and sweet. 
Bornou, Soudan, and many other African king- 
doms are supplied with salt almost entirely from 
the Tibboo country. 

Janette. Is it of a good quality ? 

By ram. Yes, it is very pure and white, and 
of an excellent flavor. 

The Tuaricks have some salt pools in their 
country, and have been known to carry off 
twenty thousand bags in a year. Eleven pounds 
of the nicest will bring four or five dollars. 

Clara, Are the Tibboo women as ugly as 
the men ? 

Byram. Those that I have seen are full as 
ugly. They have glossy black skins, their hair 
is made to hang each side of their faces, and 
always drips in oil. Their necks are adorned 
with large amber necklaces, and their great 
noses with coral rings. Their dress consists of 
a piece of cloth fastened on the top of one 



THE AFRICAN TRAVELLER. 35 

shoulder, falling down over the person, and a 
smaller one which serves for a shawl and a veil. 
Both sexes are remarkably expert dancers, and 
passionately fond of the amusement. They 
keep time with a musical instrument made of a 
gourd shell. 

The women carry fly-brushes, and the men 
three or four swords each ; but the spear is their 
favorite weapon. A man of sixty will throw one 
twenty yards, and young men in full vigor have 
been known to throw one eighty yards, which 
bent almost double as it struck the ground. 

Charles. What town is the capital of their 
country ? 

jByram. Bilma; and it is the residence of 
the sultan, who requires tribute of all who pass 
through his territories. This town stands on 
low ground, and is surrounded by low mud-walls, 
which with the houses are mean and miserable. 

A mile or two south of Bilma you must bid 
adieu to vegetation, and travel fourteen days 
more over a desert of loose sand, into which 
your camels will plunge almost knee deep at 
every step, and in toiling over some of the 
steepest sand hills, the Arabs lay hold of the 
camels tails, and hang with all their weight to 
keep them from tumbling heels over head from 
top to bottom. In a single night a whole range 
of these hills are often carried away by the wind, 
and in the morning not a vestige of them re- 
mains. A tribe of Gundo Tibboos dwell in the 
desert south of Bilma, who are very smart and 



36 THE AFRICAN TRAVELLER. 

active ; they own over five thousand camels, 
and live upon their milk one half the year, as 
well as their horses, which are surprisingly fleet. 
From the wells of Beere Kashifery the country 
improves. In crossing some valleys, the herbage 
grows as high as the horses knees, and shep- 
herd's encampments, with milch cows, calves, 
sheep and bullocks, are in great numbers. 

The town of Lari is in north latitude about 
fourteen degrees. It stands on a beautiful 
eminence, and contains two thousand inhabi- 
tants. The houses are built of rushes, and look 
like well thatched haystacks. The enclosures 
are all neat, and usually contain a goat or two, 
poultry, and sometimes a cow. The women are 
quite industrious, and spin cotton which is of an 
excellent quality and grows well upon their 
plantations. 

From the high ground on which Lari is built, 
you have a delightful view of the celebrated lake 
Tchad, the banks of which are covered with 
flocks of geese and wild ducks of the most 
beautiful plumage, pelicans and cranes, some of 
which are four or five feet high ; beautiful birds 
of the plovelfkind ; spoonbills as white as snow, 
besides a hundred species of unknown water- 
fowl, sporting upon the glassy surface of this 
charming lake, the water of which is pure and 
sweet, .and abounds with fish. The best tasted 
is a sort of bream. 

Charles, How large is the lake ? 

JByram. I do not know its exact dimensions, 



THE AFRICAN TRAVELLER. 37 

but it covers several thousand miles of country, 
and contains many inhabited islands. 

The people of Bornou call the islanders of 
the lake Kerdies. They are the terror of the 
countries bordering upon the lake, for they own a 
great many canoes, and live by plundering. 

When they set out upon one of these expedi- 
tions, they carry very little baggage, seldom 
anything more than a stiff paste made of rice, 
flour, and honey, which proves very palatable 
and nourishing when soaked in water. In ad- 
dition to this, they use a drink composed of 
rice-water, tamarinds and red pepper. Most of 
the desert travellers are furnished with little else, 
except a k\v bags of parched corn, and some 
small strips of dried meat. 

The women at Lari are pretty, and full of 
good humor ; they wear very little clothing, and 
few ornaments, except small three-cornered bits 
of silver or tin suspended from their woolly hair 
on the back side of the head. A good fowl may 
be purchased for two needles, and a lamb for 
as much amber as would sell for three cents in 
Europe. Most of the houses contain two rooms, 
partitioned with a mat. The door is made of 
the same article. They are destitute of win- 
dows, and the furniture consists of a sofa, made 
by lashing rushes upon a little frame and cover* 
ing it with the skin of a wild bull or tiger-cat. 
The bowls and gourd shells are hung upon the 
walls ; the huts are all neat, and display more 
comfort than is often found in African palaces. 



38 THE AFRICAN TRAVELLER. 

Charles. Are not serpents very numerous 
and venomous in that part of Africa? 

Byram. Yes ; in all parts of the country 
they are plenty. Not long ago one was killed 
near the lake which measured eighteen feet, and 
was extremely venomous. The bite of some of 
them is so poisonous, that unless the parts bitten 
are entirely cut out, the person dies in a few 
minutes, and often when the operation is in- 
stantly performed, the poison circulates so rapidly 
that the patient is often laid by a year or two, 
and eventually either loses the limb or the use 
of it. 

The boa constrictor is from twenty-five to 
thirty feet long, and Battel says they are five 
feet thick, and ascend trees, and dart upon 
men and animals, and swallow them whole. 
This serpent is very poisonous. 

Mr. Ashmun saw one of these serpents at 
Liberia, after it had been a long time dead ; 
but its size was very diminutive in comparison 
to the one described by Battel, though Mr. 
Ashmun thought it probable that the one he 
saw had come to its death from famine. The 
mamba, as thick as a man's thigh, is twenty feet 
long and very nimble — the liffa and ncbambi 
are extremely venomous, and coil themselves on 
the branches of trees which overhang rivers, 
and are so exactly the color of the bark, that 
they are seldom discovered till they fall or leap 
into a canoe on the water, whenever a noise 
disturbs them. The natives have such a horror 



THE AFRICAN TRAVELLER. 39 

of them, that the moment one falls into their 
canoe, all hands leap into the water and swim 
to the shore for their lives. I could mention 
twenty other kinds of serpents, but these will 
suffice to convince you that Africa has her full 
share of them. 

Janette. It cannot be safe to travel in such 
a country ; would they be so numerous if the 
people were civilized, and all the land culti- 
vated 1 

Byram. I presume they w T ould not ; for at 
Cape Messurado, we seldom hear that any harm 
is done by them. I will now tell you about the 
lions, elephants, and other animals that are so 
numerous in all the region of the lake. 

Janette, Uncle, do describe to us the lion. 

Byram. This animal is truly styled the lord 
of the forest ; where he roams undisturbed by, 
and entirely fearless of man, and all the brute 
creation. When he roars, it is the signal for 
flight to all who dread his power. When en- 
raged, he lashes his sides with his tail, and his 
mane rises almost erect, and the hair becomes 
stiff like bristles. His face is broad, and sur- 
rounded by the shaggy mane ; eyebrows thick 
and heavy. His eye glows with ferocious lustre 
when the least excited. His neck, and breast, 
and indeed the whole front of his body to his 
shoulders, is covered with long hair, while upon 
the rest of his body it is close and short, except 
the belly and hinder part of his legs. 

His height is from four to five feet, and length, 



40 THE AFRICAN TRAVELLER. 

eight or nine. The usual color is a tawny 
yellow like the tiger. He bounds upon his 
prey, often springing eighteen or twenty feet at 
a leap, but seldom more than three in succes- 
sion ; then, if unsuccessful, he gives over and 
retires to his den, or lurks around watching 
another opportunity. A lion's tongue is so 
rough that he can easily take off the skin of a 
man's hand in licking it. Some that have been 
tamed, have lived between sixty and seventy 
years. The Moors use their skins for bedquilts 
and counterpanes. 

Charles. What other animals are seen near 
the lake ? 

Byram. Buffaloes of enormous size, some 
measuring fourteen feet in length ; and the ele- 
phants are sixteen feet high, marching about 
with little birds resembling the thrush, perched 
upon their backs. 

Clara. Do the neighboring people ever take 
elephants ? 

Byram. They try various methods to do 
so, but seldom succeed ; for a spear darted at 
one, makes no more impression on him than 
the prick of a pin would on your skin. Even 
bullets do not tear the skin of their tough hides, 
which is commonly more than an inch thick, 
nor apparently produce the least sensation of 
pain. Mr. Denham saw them in herds of 
between one and two hundred. The lions and 
the hyenas are so numerous and voracious on 
the way from Lari to Kauka, that, in defiance of 



THE AFRICAN TRAVELLER. 41 

the great fires always kept up at night by 
travellers, they will sometimes seize upon a 
weary camel and eat him half up before morn- 
ing. 

Charles. How large is the hyena ? 

By ram. About four feet long, and two feet 
and a half high; and as he runs along he re- 
sembles a large dog, though the expression of 
his countenance is exceedingly ferocious and 
hateful. His jaws are so strong, that he can 
grind the thigh bone of an ox to powder ; his 
hair is rough and coarse, and his tail short and 
bushy. 

Clara. What is his color ? 

Byram. Ash; with black waving stripes 
running along his sides. He runs with his 
nose to the ground, and his eyes turning every 
way ; his ears are sharp, and destitute of fur. 
Nothing can tame him, and make him pleasant 
and gentle, for it is his nature to be disagreeable. 
He will kill and tear in pieces without mercy, 
at the same time a putrid carcass affords him a 
delicious repast. 

Charles. He is a most hateful creature, and 
yet I suppose he was created for wise purposes. 

Byram. There is no doubt of that, Charles ; 
for in his native climate putrid substances ren- 
der a place sickly, and the hyenas, as well as 
jackals and vultures, make good scavengers. 

Janette., What is the state of the country 
after you leave Lari ? 

Byram. Immediately after leaving that town, 
4 



42 THE AFRICAN TRAVELLER. 

you enter a finely wooded country, almost every 
tree covered with birds of the most beautiful 
plumage, and some of sweet notes ; delightful 
groves of palm-trees ; wells of pure water, sur- 
rounded with large watering troughs spacious 
enough to water hundreds of thirsty cattle and 
camels. Tamarind-trees of large size afford 
shelter and shade ; and every hour you pass 
flocks of guinea fowls, a hundred in each. The 
road runs along in sight of the lake most of the 
way twenty or thirty miles, with here and there 
a small negro village, with a weekly market held 
at each. The people ride on bullocks instead 
of mules or horses, and a leather thong passed 
through the nose of the animal serves for a 
bridle. A skin is spread over his back for a 
saddle, and the merchandize of whatever name 
is lashed on in the best manner they can devise, 
and on the top of the whole load the female 
trader takes her seat, and away she trots to the 
nearest market town. 

There is a village named Woodic i about 
eighty miles from Bornou, and within a mile of 
the lake, where the men are said to be more 
intolerably lazy than in any other place in 
Africa. Game of every description comes 
within a stone's throw of their habitations, yet 
they are too indolent to take any, but lay idling 
away their precious time under shade trees, or 
a kind of booth made by raising four posts and 
thatching the top ; these places of resort serve 
for court-houses, and for places of worship, if 



THE AFRICAN TRAVELLER. 43 

their superstitions deserve the name of worship. 
The females dress with much simplicity and 
some taste. A gentleman told me that near 
this place he saw no less than five hundred 
pelicans in one flock. 

It is now bedtime ; I will take another op- 
portunity to tell you about the kingdom of 
Bornou. 



CHAPTER IV. 



" The day is drawing nigh, 
Still brighter far than this, 
When Afric's sons like clouds shall fly 
To seek the realms of bliss." 



" Where did we leave our traveller last even- 
ing ?" said Mr. Spencer to Charles and Janette, 
the morning after the conversation related in 
the last chapter ; at the same time taking up 
Finley's new map of Africa. 

Charles. At Woodie, uncle Byram, about 
eighty miles from Bornou. 

Byram. Well, Kauka is the next town I 
shall notice ; here, do you see where it is on the 



map 



Charles. Yes, it is near the river Shary, that 
empties into the Tchad, not far from Kauka. 
Are there no towns, nor villages, nor rivers, from 
Lari to Kauka ? 

Byram. Yes, quite a number ; but as there 
is nothing very peculiar I should have omit- 
ted remarking upon them, had you not made 



THE AFRICAN TRAVELLER: 45 

inquiries. The most considerable town is Bur- 
zvah, containing five or six thousand inhabitants; 
the town is walled, and is said to cover an extent 
equal to three square miles. The principal 
river crossed on the way, falls into the Lake 
Tchad, and is called Yeau, or Yauri. In some 
places, it is over fifty yards wide, with a fine 
clear, sandy bottom, and a current running three 
and four miles an hour. It is crossed in native 
canoes, which will carry twenty or thirty per- 
sons ; built much like the boats used by the 
Greeks. The country people tie their camels 
and horses to the canoe, and swim them over; 
but camels dislike to swim, and they sometimes 
die immediately after crossing a wide stream. 
There is much wood on the route thronged with 
wild animals, and among them the red wild cat- 
tle are easily distinguished, by their resemblance 
to the bufTaloe, as well as the bullock, having 
humps on their shoulders covered with long tufts 
of hair. Another animal between the ox and 
the antelope, with immense horns, is called by 
the natives, the red bullock. Monkeys are very 
plenty in all the woody districts. 

When Major Denham arrived within a few 
miles of Kauka, he was met and welcomed by 
a body of several thousand cavalry, the horses 
heads all shielded by plates of brass, iron, or 
silver ; nothing but their eyes were left unpro- 
tected. The troopers exhibited much skill in 
the management of the horses, and were clothed 
4* 



46 THE AFRICAN TRAVELLER. 

in coats of mail, and wore iron helmets, and 
chin pieces of the same metal. 

Charles. How were the coats of mail manu- 
factured 1 

Byram. Of small iron chain curiously inter- 
laced ; it covered the person from the throat to 
the knees, and was so contrived as to fall over 
the sides of the horse, and protect him as well 
as his master. 

The sheik, or governor, is approached with 
many ceremonies which to us appear extremely 
ridiculous, especially if a stranger in official 
capacity is to be presented. 

Janette. Uncle, do describe the manner of 
presentation, at the levee of a sheik of Bornou. 

Byram. They are not called levees there ; 
but a stranger is conducted through a long line 
of attendants and officers, who all sit upon their 
hams opposite each other, leaving just room 
enough for the stranger to make his way, who 
sometimes finds it difficult to command his 
gravity, in the midst of such a ludicrous scene ; 
but if he do not preserve his dignity and appear 
perfectly grave, the people sitting on their hams 
catch hold of his legs and trip him up, without 
suffering a smile to light up a single feature. 
Neither boots, shoes, nor slippers are ever permit- 
ted to be worn upon these occasions, and when at 
length the sheik is discovered, it is usually in a 
reclining posture upon a bank of earth covered 
with a carpet, or mat, and the guest is seated 
on the »and beside him ; and presents of meat, 



THE AFRICAN TRAVELLER. 47 

fish, butter in leather bags, rice stewed with 
meat, (like the curry so much used at Bombay 
and Ceylon,) honey and sweetmeats are laid at 
his feet for acceptance. 

Near the town is a market, where it is com- 
mon to see fifty thousand people assembled for 
purposes of trade ; the women perform all the 
labor of selling the articles, and delivering 
them, while the men lie about in booths and 
under shade trees, by hundreds, telling stories, 
playing, &,c. 

Clara. Are the women pretty ? 

Byram. Some of them are very pretty ; they 
have black complexions, large bright black eyes, 
and wear a profusion of ornaments of elephants 
teeth, bracelets, coral rings in the nose, strings 
of rings and beads hanging on each side of the 
face ; amber necklaces, besides a fillet of beads 
with a blazing ornament in front, bound about 
the forehead; the hair, or rather wool, is raised 
into puffs or rolls one higher than the other. 
The blue or white cotton mantles, fastened on 
one shoulder falling down below the knee, covers 
one half the waist, and leaves the other exposed. 
A (ew wear the mantle confined close under 
each arm, which is a more becoming and 
modest fashion. Many of the slaves seen at the 
market place, have been brought from distant 
nations, and are extremely ugly by nature ; and 
art has aided nature to make some of them 
almost monsters. They are so madly fond of 
ornaments, that not contented with filling their 



48 THE AFRICAN TRAVELLER. 

noses and ears with a variety of finery, they use 
large silver, or copper headed nails as lip jewels, 
and thrust them through the under lip so far, 
that the greatest fashionists are obliged to lose 
one tooth or more, to make room to receive 
the immense jewel. 

Janette. If mother should hear you describe 
some of these savage ornaments, she would 
despise earrings more than she now does. 

Byram. There was to me always something 
savage in the appearance of earrings, and I 
cannot help attaching cruelty as well as vanity 
to every lady I see wearing them. 

Charles. What do they sell in the market 
besides jewels ? 

Byram. Clothes, consisting chiefly of bar- 
acans, tobes, and turkadees. 

Janette. Do pray tell us what articles of 
dress we should call these ? 

Byram. The baracan is a kind of mantle, 
which can easily be drawn over the head, and 
answers the purpose of a veil and shawl ; the 
tobe is worn by men, and made like a wag- 
oner's frock, with very large sleeves ; the turka- 
dee is a female garment, but is merely a strip 
of wide cloth, between three and four yards 
long, wrapped in folds round the waist ; most 
ladies of respectability wear two, one as a shawl, 
the other as a petticoat. Both men and women 
wear Bamauses, which are cloaks with heads. 

Very curious belts are sold and worn ^tKauka, 
made entirely of beads sewed on cloth sixteen 



THE AFRICAN TRAVELLER. 49 

inches wide ; they sell for fifteen or twenty dol- 
lars. They are worn just above the hips. The 
principal articles of produce are wheat, corn, 
rice, ground-nuts, onions, tomatoes, tamarinds, 
and indigo of the finest quality. There are 
but few garden vegetables, and less fruit in 
Bornou. Butter and honey is abundant, and 
leather is brought to markets in immense quanti- 
ties. All these, and numerous other articles are 
brought sometimes from a great distance, alto- 
gether upon bullocks. Fowls are so cheap that 
forty are sold for a dollar. A good bullock may 
be bought for three dollars. Bees are in many 
districts so numerous, as to obstruct the pas- 
sage of travellers. Asses are much used as 
beasts of burden. 

Charles. Is Kauka the largest town in the 
kingdom ? 

Byram. No ; JBirnie is the residence of the 
sultan El Kanemy, about twenty miles from Kau- 
ka, and contains nearly ten thousand inhabitants. 

When Dr. Ordney and his fellow travellers 
went to pay him a visit, they found him seated 
in a sort of cage made of cane, near the gate of 
his garden. His power is almost nothing, he 
reigns and governs by sufferance of the sheik at 
Kauka. One of the travellers said, " Large 
bellies and large heads are indispensable for 
those who serve the count of Bornou. Where 
nature has been deficient wadding is used, so as 
to give the belly the appearance of hanging over 
the pummel of the saddle. Eight, ten, or twelve 



50 THE AFRICAN TRAVELLER. 

tobes, or frocks of different colors are worn, one 
over the other. The head is enveloped in folds 
of muslin, or linen. The men and their horses 
are covered with charms, in red leather, in par- 
cels strung together. Courtiers to the number of 
three hundred were seated before the sultan." 

You can scarcely imagine a scene more 
ridiculous and absurd, than is presented around 
the palace at Birnie. 

There are thirteen important towns in the 
empire, but Angornou is the most populous, 
containing thirty thousand inhabitants. A week- 
ly market is held here on Wednesdays, and from 
eighty to a hundred thousand people assemble. 
Most of the men here wear a linen shirt, and 
trowsers. All kinds of meat and fish are offered 
for sale, cooked and uncooked ? 

Charles. Do they have money ? 

Byram. No; they barter one commodity for 
another. Bits of amber, coral, jasper, beads, and 
a thousand other things are given in exchange 
for the necessaries of life, and such luxuries as 
tobacco, snuff, gooroo-nuts, and a few other 
articles. 

Clara. What are gooroo-nuts like? 

Byram. They are more like butter-nuts 
than anything else I know, and set at a large 
price; the Africans chew them, and the teeth, in 
consequence, turn a dark red, which is consid- 
ered as very beautiful indeed. This town is not 
far from the lake Tchad. The houses are built 
of mud, but larger and more commodious than 



TH*E AFRICAN TRAVELLER. 51 

those at Kauka, or Birnie. Deegar contains 
about the same population as Angornou. 

Charles. Have many white persons visited 
Bornou 1 

Byram. No ; I doubt whether one person in 
a thousand in Bornou had ever seen a white 
man before the visit of Dr. Ordney, Major Den- 
ham, and Hillman, The whiteness of their skin 
was the terror of women and children, who very 
frequently ran from them with a shriek of hor- 
ror and disgust. A black chief invited one of 
them to his house, and called two of his favorite 
wives to come out and see them, but the mo- 
ment they caught a glance of his face, they 
screamed, clapped their hands, and spread them 
over their faces and ran away. The little girls 
were often so much afraid, that all their persua- 
sion was unavailing even to induce them to go 
near enough to accept of a few strings of beads, 
of which they are passionately fond. 

Janette. I suppose they felt as we did, when 
for the first time we looked upon a black person. 
Do they look like the colored people among us? 

Byram. Yes ; their lips are nearly as thick, 
mouths as large, and hair as crisp. 

A tribe of Kanemboos are handsome, and 
have the finest forms of any people in Bornou. 

Clara. What are their usual weapons ? 

Byram. Bows, arrows, spears, and daggers, 
are the principal ones. 

Old Birnie was once the capital of Bornou, 
and I have been told that at one time it con- 



52 THE AFRICAN TRAVELLER. 

tained two hundred thousand souls, but it was 
destroyed by the Felattah people, and about the 
same time more than thirty other large towns. 
It covered five or six square miles. Remains of 
the former town walls show that they were built 
of a coarse kind of brick, four or five feet thick, 
and in some places they are standing eighteen 
or twenty feet high. 

Janette. How is Bornou situated ? 

Byram. Almost in the heart of Africa. It 
is bounded north by Kanem and part of the 
desert ; on the south-east by the kingdom of 
Loggun ; and the river Shary, which separates 
it from the kingdom of Begharmy ; on the 
south by the Mandara country, and the west 
by Soudan, sometimes called Nigritia. Lake 
Tchad, is the eastern boundary. An extermi- 
nating war has been carried on for years 
between Begharmy and Bornou. The river 
Shary is in many places half a mile wide, and 
falls into the lake Tchad by several mouths. 
There are many walled towns on this river, and 
one of them has walls fifty feet high. The bees 
and flies are so numerous and voracious, that at 
Kussery the people dare not venture out for 
several hours in the middle of the day. A child 
of the governor died of bites and stings, and a 
person who went out carelessly, returned with 
his head and eyes in such a state that he was 
seriously ill several days. To guard against 
these tormentors, the houses are well built, one 
cell within another. 






THE AFRICAN TRAVELLER. 53 

Clara. Is the weather very warm 1 

Byram. From March to the end of June the 
weather is so extremely hot, that Farenheit's 
thermometer rises in the shade to a hundred 
and six or seven degrees. 

In May, the thunder gusts are frequent, and 
the wind and lightning dreadful, with large quan- 
tities of rain. At the approach of these showers, 
the people in great haste dig a hole in the earth, 
in which they bury every article of clothing and 
receive the rain upon their naked skins ; and 
when the rain ceases, they dig up their clothes 
and feel dry and comfortable. 

It has been noticed that those persons who 
practice this have good health, while those who 
were covered and exposed, had colds, agues and 
pains. The ground is now prepared to sow, 
and before June closes the corn is all planted, 
and the waters begin to overflow the country ; 
and owing to its flatness, many tracts extending 
for miles, are converted into lakes. I have 
heard travellers say that twenty days labor in a 
year will afford abundant crops, sufficient for 
the support of any family of the common size in 
America. The winters commence in October ; 
in November and December it is colder than 
might be expected in that latitude, the thermo- 
meter sometimes falling toward the end of De- 
cember, to fifty-eight degrees. Chills and fever 
carry off thousands every year. 

There are ten different languages, or dialects 
of the same, spoken in the empire. 
5 



54 THE AFRICAN TRAVELLER. 

Janette. In what do their riches mostly consist? 

" In slaves, bullocks, horses, and asses," an- 
swered Mr. Spencer. " You often see in their 
markets, rams and slaves fastened together 
waiting to be sold." 

Charles. O what a cruel sight to see human 
beings chained together for sale ! Have they 
any religion? 

Byram. They are all Moslems, and are very 
strict in praying and bathing five times a day, 
according to the rules of the Koran, (the Maho- 
metan Bible.) There are tribes of Shouaas, I 
have already told you I believe that they are 
of Arabian origin — an exceedingly cunning, de- 
ceitful and arrogant people, who live a wild and 
wandering life. Most of the charm-writers, pro- 
phets, and jugglers in Bornou, are among these 
tribes ; their occupations give them free access 
to the houses of^the blacks, from whom they 
pilfer many of their most valuable articles. 

They have copper colored complexions, hand- 
some noses, and bright eyes ; but have very sav- 
age manners. They resemble the people called 
gipsies. I am inclined to think that I have 
already told you about these Shouaas. 

Clara. Not about those who live in the 
kingdom of Bornou, uncle. 

Byram. All the tribes in Central Africa, 
tattoo their skins ; but some far more becoming- 
ly then others. The Bornouese make twenty 
lines on each side of the face, one deep cut on 
the forehead, six on each arm, four on the breast, 



THE AFRICAN TRAVELLER. 55 

six on each of the lower limbs, and nine on each 
side of the body. 

The operation is performed in childhood, 
and the torture endured by little children on 
these occasions is indescribable, for they are 
generally covered with vermin. The laws are 
severe, — murder is death ; repeated thefts by 
youthful offenders, are punished by burying them 
in the earth up to the neck, after shaving the 
head, and covering it with butter and honey. 
The culprit is then left ten or twelve hours to 
the merciless flies. They never imprison for 
debt — that foul blot upon some States in our 
beloved Union. 

The palaces of the nobility are built with 
much expense, and some taste and skill. The 
walls are of red clay, as smooth as the plaister 
upon the walls of our rooms; and when soft the 
horns of animals are imbedded, and when they 
become dry, they are fixed permanently ; from 
them are suspended shields, quivers, bows, arrows 
and various other warlike implements. These 
houses generally have eight turrets, and four 
terraces or balconies. Apartments for the fe- 
males are in the back part of the building. 

Janette. Have they any better furniture than 
the poorer sort of people ? 

Byram. O yes, they have most beautiful 
earthern pots for cooking ; and wooden bowls 
and calabashes of every size. Leather cushions 
brought from Soudan are much used, and highly 
prized, these are used by the great for pillows, 



56 THE AFRICAN TRAVELLER. 

they also have small turkey carpets to sit and 
sleep on. 

A very few tinned brass basins are owned by 
the sultan who uses them for drinking vessels, 
and a few kettles of the same metal have been 
introduced into the kingdom, and exchanged for 
a slave each. 

Charles. The sultan deals in slaves, then, as 
well as his subjects. 

Byram. Yes ; slaves are the main object 
in view in all their plans. In answer to an 
English traveller who spoke against the hateful 
traffic, a ruler in Central Africa said, " You say 
true, we are all sons of one father ! You say, 
also, that the sons of Adam should not sell one 
another, and you know every thing ! But what 
are we to do ? the Arabs will have nothing else 
but slaves : why don't you send us your mer- 
chants ? Let them come and bring their women 
with them and live with us, and teach us what 
you talk about so often ; to build houses, and 
boats, and to make rockets." 

Charles. And would they not as readily 
receive the ministers of Christ as merchants, 
uncle ? 

Byram. I have no doubt but missionaries 
might settle in the country and live safely, and 
establish schools with great success, were there 
many ready and willing to go, and funds on 
hand sufficient for their support. 

If the Lord should pour out his Spirit, and 
put it in the hearts of his children to educate 



THE AFRICAN TRAVELLER. 57 

pious colored youth in the United States, on 
purpose to go as missionaries and schoolmasters 
to Central Africa, there can be no doubt but 
the transforming power of the gospel would 
soon be seen and felt, among the disciples of the 
false prophet, and the heathen throughout the 
tribes east of Liberia. 

Charles, It is pleasant to think of the time 
when the nations shall become enlightened, and 
happy as the people who are now embraced 
within that colony. Do you not think that the 
religious influence of that colony has already 
pervaded some of the surrounding tribes? 

Byram. Yes ; but I suppose those natives 
who are now heathen, are more easily brought 
under a religious influence, than those who 
have embraced the Moslem faith. Every thing 
in Central Africa that bears any resemblance to 
civilization, has been introduced by dauntless 
enterprising Arabs professing that faith, who 
have penetrated into every nook and corner 
of the interior, carrying with him his religion, 
and persuading thousands to embrace it. 

Christian merchants might there barter Euro- 
pean articles for the productions of Africa, and 
do much to suppress the iniquitous traffic in 
slaves. 

Charles. What productions could an English 
or American merchant exchange their articles 
of trade for in Bornou 1 

Byram. Ivory, indigo of the best quality, 
senna, musk, ostrich skins, buffaloe horns, and 
5* 



58 THE AFRICAN TRAVELLER. 

raw hides. The last sell for two dollars a hun- 
dred. By means of an extended commerce 
beyond the great desert, discoveries might be 
carried on with far less risk, than at present can 
be done by travellers sent alone for that pur- 
pose. 

Janeite. Could not the centre of Africa be 
reached from the south-west, with far less fatigue 
and danger, than from Tripoli? 

Byram. I intend to carry you through the 
country from Badagry, which is in the south- 
west corner of the kingdom of Yaraba you may 
find it on the map of Africa. Then you will 
judge for yourselves which is the best route. 

Clara. Shall you tell us now ? 

Byram. No, I leave town for B— this 

afternoon, and shall not return for a week ; but 
I told your mother and sister Caroline about 
the Mandara country on our journey, and they 
will tell you, while I am absent, all you wish to 
know. 

That moment Miss Caroline Spencer entered 
the room, and the children, and her brother, 
urged her to relate what she knew of the Man- 
dara country, and she very pleasantly related 
what you will find in the next chapter. 



CHAPTER V. 

" Though now the nations sit beneath 
The darkness of o'erspreading death, 
God will arise with light divine, 
On Afrie's Moslem towers to shine." 

Mandara lies south of Bornou, and joins 
Begharmy on the west. The first town after 
leaving Bornou, is called Delan, with" ten 
thousand inhabitants ; it is a little more than 
ten degrees north latitude. Here are fig-trees 
and the most beautiful ceringa's you ever saw. 

Clara. Aunt Caroline, I never saw a cerin- 
ga-tree ; how does it look ? 

Caroline. It resembles a common cherry- 
tree more than any other which I have seen, 
but the flowers are much larger, and more fra- 
grant than the cherry blossom. 

Janette. Are the people handsomer than the 
Bornouese ? 

Caroline. Yes, the women especially are 
considered very beautiful. The men are lively 
and intelligent, with high, flat foreheads, large 
sparkling eyes, crispy hair, their noses less flat 



60 THE AFRICAN TRAVELLER. 

than most colored people, and their dress pretty 
and becoming, being dark blue cloth, or silk 
striped with yellow and red. Though they are 
often seen in a state of nature. 

The Mandara horses are really beautiful, 
larger and stronger than those bred- in Bornou. 
The sultan Mohammed Bucker, resides at Mora, 
the capital of the country. He is between fifty 
and sixty, of small stature, and it is a curious 
fact that his guard is composed of thirty of his 
sons whom he has mounted upon superb horses, 
remarkable for fleetness, and covered with gau- 
dy trappings. The chief musical instruments 
in use, are trumpets, and a species of clarionets. 

Janctte. Do they have good food ? 

Caroline. They think it very nice ; the most 
admired dish is a stiff paste of corn flour with 
onions cut up in it, hot fat, with a large quantity 
of pepper, is poured over it, when eaten. They 
have plenty of mutton, and other meats. The 
wool of the sheep is very long and heavy. 

The heat is almost insupportable, the ther- 
mometer rising from one hundred and eight to 
one hundred and fifteen. The flies, ants, and 
other insects are nowhere more troublesome 
than in this country. Various expedients are 
used to preserve the wood frame of buildings ; 
among others which succeed pretty well, is 
plaistering it over with a kind of clay, through 
which they find it difficult to penetrate. It is 
surprising how rapidly they will demolish a 
large stick of timber, if unprotected by plaister. 



THE AFRICAN TRAVELLER. 61 

The Mandara's have eight large towns, which 
are situated in an immense valley, surrounded 
by a semicircular range of hiils, some of them 
two thousand five hundred feet high, and Ma- 
jor Denharn gained satisfactory evidence that 
they extended south two months journey. 

Charles. Are they not connected with the 
mountains of the moon? 

Caroline, /think they are, but cannot prove 
it. A few freed slaves have ventured to pene- 
trate the countries south of these hills, and they 
report that the nations are numerous and popu- 
lous, and generally paint and stain their bodies; 
savage no doubt. 

Janette. Mountains of only twenty-five hun- 
dred feet in height, cannot be called very high, 
aunt Caroline ; do you think they can ? 

Caroline. No, not in a hilly country ; but 
when they shoot up in irregular peaks to that 
height, from extensive plains, and valleys, they 
look high, though m reality, no higher than the 
Alleghany mountains, in the United States. 

The Kerdies have their dwellings every where 
in clusters, on the sides and tops of these hills, 
which overhang Mora. 

Clara. Who are the Kerdies 1 

Caroline. In Africa the name is applied to 
all who are not of the Moslem religion, and it 
means unbelievers. Many of the inhabitants of 
the neighboring nations are Kerdies, or rather 
they are not Moslems. The nightly fires of 
these savage people, and their rude huts upon 



62 THE AFRICAN TRAVELLED. 

the mountain peaks, are distinctly seen day and 
night, from all the villages of the plain. The 
mountain scenery of Mora, is rarely equalled in 
beauty and richness. It is ascending all the 
way from Kauka to Mora, and after leaving 
the latter town, and winding round some of the 
overhanging hills, a noble view of a chain ap- 
parently interminable is presented in lofty gran- 
deur and picturesque beauty. In the distant 
south the pass of Horza opens before the travel- 
ler, and where he enters, it is not more than 
fifty feet wide, while upon his right hand and 
left, the sides rise two hundred feet almost per- 
pendicular, with the exception of a few frightful 
projections hanging nearly over his head. 

Charles. What is there beyond the pass of 
Horza? 

Caroline. A most delightful mountain stream 
flowing through a verdant country, for twenty 
miles, adorned with fig, mango, gubberah, and 
other trees, mostly covered with vines in full flow- 
er, which perfumes the air in every direction. 

Wild beasts, serpents, and scorpions invest 
the uninhabited parts of the country, and ren- 
der travelling dangerous. 

Leopards, of the panther family, are so nu- 
merous and fierce, that they have devoured chil- 
dren, and destroyed grown people. After pass- 
ing this verdant space, a thick wood, and deep 
ravines, the traveller emerges into another open 
country, and a large Felattah town is spread out 
at his feet. 



THE AFRICAN TRAVELLER. G3 

Charles. Who are the Felattahs? 

Caroline. A powerful nation, that has con- 
quered and laid in ruins nations, provinces, and 
cities. They have carried their conquests over 
an immense space. They are found all over 
Soudan, and I have been told that they dwell on 
both banks of the Kowarra river, (the same as 
the mysterious Niger,) from its source to its 
mouth. They are of a deep copper color, hand- 
some, lively, and enterprising. The language is 
the same as that of Timbuctoo. They seldom 
intermarry with the negroes, and nearly all are 
professed Mohammedans ; I will sometime tell you 
about their famous sultan Bello, if your uncle 
Byram does not. 

The natives have a very ingenious method of 
catching lions in pits called blaquas, which I 
will attempt to describe. They dig a large hole 
eight or ten feet deep, and thrust sharpened 
stakes into the ground at the bottom, and after 
placing a few small bamboo poles over the 
mouth of the pit, they artfully conceal it with a 
covering of turf, and upon some occasions, stuff 
a man's raiment with straw, and lay near it. 
The lion is rather dull of hearing, and not so 
discriminating as some animals, and the mo- 
ment they set their feet upon the turf, the whole 
gives way, and the poor wretch is instantly pre- 
cipitated to the bottom, and the stakes pierce 
his body, and he betrays his fate by the most 
awful roar. Sometimes they are made so large 
as to admit a camel, a horse and his rider, and 



64 THE AFRICAN TRAVELLER. 

once a servant of Captain Clapperton fell into 
one which wounded him severely. They make 
blaquas round important places instead of forti- 
fications. A dry ditch is often dug round a 
town with similar stakes driven at the bottom, 
as a defence against invasion. 

Female slaves working in the plantations, are 
frequently carried off by the lions, and some- 
times by the hyenas, in sight of large towns. 

A lion measuring fourteen feet was caught in 
one of these blaquas, after having devoured 
three slaves. Men, and even brutes, seem more 
ferocious in this sultry climate than in more 
temperate latitudes. You would be shocked to 
hear the details of cruelties practiced upon indi- 
viduals of hostile parties. Their wars are car- 
ried on in the most savage and bloody form, and 
one province will overthrow a weaker one, in 
the same way that one county in Massachusetts 
would invade and ravage the one adjoining in a 
time of civil war. 

In one season the people of Begharmy slaugh- 
tered twenty thousand Bornouese, and the Be- 
gharmy people took and sold into slavery more 
than six thousand of the Bornouese. 

Clara. Uncle Byram related to us similar 
conduct, and one day I heard him tell father 
that it was a very common thing in those be- 
nighted regions, for a hostile tribe to fall upon 
a defenceless village at midnight, and after mur- 
dering every man while sleeping, take all the 
women and children captives, fire the houses, 



THE AFRICAN TRAVELLER. 65 

and sometimes set fire to hundreds of stacks of 
wheat and corn, and then betake themselves to 
their boats, and depart with their booty. 

Charles. Upon what rivers, Clara? 

Clara. He said the Shary or some other 
navigable river, or perhaps on some parts of the 
lake Tchad. He says some of the tribes of 
islanders in that lake own a thousand boats ; 
and that they make predatory excursions into 
every province bordering upon that immense 
body of water. * 

Caroline. That lake is more like an inland 
sea than a common lake, and the banks in some 
places are delightful ; so are the banks of the 
river Shary — the green foliage is rich, and very 
luxuriant, and the majestic trees covered w T ith 
vines hanging in graceful festoons, most of them 
bearing aromatic flowers of almost every hue, 
among them the purple convolvolus (morning 
glory) flourishes in great beauty. There are 
several elevated islands in the river Shary, upon 
one of them there formerly stood a regular 
town, but it is now a heap of ruins, the fit abode 
of scorpions, porcupines, and centipedes, a very 
poisonous insect. 

Kissery is a strong walled town near the 
Shary, where the sultan resides. The musque- 
toes, bees, and flies are innumerable here, besides 
enormous black toads, which are very annoying. 
The succession of marshy land, swamps, and 
stagnant pools engender myriads of these disa- 
greeable insects; and in addition to these, croc- 
6 



66 THE AFRICAN TRAVELLER. 

odiles are so numerous, that they may often be 
seen sleeping in the sun just out of the water, 
some of them measuring from eight to fifteen 
feet long. They are a great terror to the inhab- 
itants. 

Charles. What country joins Mandara? 

Caroline. Loggun, the capital of which is 
Kernuk, containing fifteen thousand inhabitants. 
Their language resembles the Bergharmies. 
Their markets are furnished with an abundant 
supply of bullocks, milk, and fat. A metal cur- 
rency is used here, consisting of thin plates of 
iron ; but any kind of metal currency is very 
rare throughout Central Africa. 

The Loggun women are handsome, cunning, 
and thievish, and in other respects very incorrect. 

They are passionately fond of perfumes, and 
cloves are held in high estimation, and bear a 
high price ; when powdered, they mix it with 
fat, and anoint their bodies and hair. Loggun 
is thought to be the most healthy country through 
which the Shary passes. Provisions are plenty, 
good, and very cheap; they are an industrious 
people, and labor regularly at the loom. Afri- 
can cloth is seldom, if ever, woven more than 
four or five inches wide, but they understand 
uniting the edges so as to puzzle any one to 
determine where the seams are. They c«re very 
indifferent to the forms of the Mohammedan re- 
ligion, and I know but few places in Africa 
more inviting for a missionary establishment, and 
a small colony connected with it. Charles, has 



THE AFRICAN TRAVELLER. 67 

my brother told you anything respecting Sou- 
dan. 

Charles. I do not think he has done more 
than allude to it once or twice. If you know 
anything about it, we shall be happy to hear. 

Caroline. You know he turned aside from 
Bornou to describe Mandara, and Loggun, or 
rather I introduced those countries to your no- 
tice ; and now I will just step back to old Bir- 
nie, and pursue my course from thence to Socca- 
too. After leaving the last mentioned town, 
and travelling west, the country rises into gentle 
swells and slopes, or, as the western people 
would say, opens into large rolling prairies cov- 
ered with high grass, which in Africa as well as 
the western states, often takes fire by accident 
or design, and appears like a sea of fire. 

The soil is a red clay, and scarcely a tree is 
to be seen, except on the borders of rivers, for 
many miles. Walled towns are numerous, con- 
taining from one to many thousand inhabitants, 
the houses have mud walls, and they look like 
bee-hives, surmounted with ostrich eggs, which 
denotes the owner a person of respectability and 
rank. Various tribes of Shouaa Arabs occupy 
the country. The women are handsome ; they 
wear the hair raised like a crest on the top of 
the head, and side tresses braided a little near 
the head, and then frizzled to the end, hanging 
each side of the face. There is a large territory 
bordering on Bornou, inhabited by Bendites, 
who are not Mohammedans. They speak the 



68 THE AFRICAN TRAVELLER. 

language of Bornou, and acknowledge a sort of 
subjection to the sultan El Kanemy, though 
considered by him and his subjects, no better 
than outlaws. Felattahs and Bornouese think 
they do well to murder or enslave as many of 
the Bendites as they can. 

Some parts of this country are so high, that in 
December thin flakes of ice are often to be seen, 
which is a very uncommon thing in that lati- 
tude, where the land is no more elevated. Trees 
of great size with leaves resembling ash are plen- 
ty ; they grow to a majestic height, bearing large 
white flowers not unlike lillies, the fruit oblong 
and larger than a cocoa-nut with a hard shell; it 
contains a stringy substance, and a considerable 
quantity of powder of an agreeable acid taste. 
When put in water it makes a cooling drink. 
The leaves are used in cookery to thicken soups, 
gravies, &c. This tree in Africa is called 
kuka. Another tree resembling our oaks, bear- 
ing dark red flowers, is highly valued by the 
natives for the beautiful red paint furnished from 
the flowers, with which they paint their teeth 
red, and season and color their food. The coun- 
try is small, and defended by dense forests and 
deep morasses, from the invasion of hostile 
neighbors, who use every artifice to deprive them 
of their doubtful and dangerous independence. 

A sister of the sultan El Kanemy resides in 
this country in great obscurity, but in much 
contentment, and considerable comfort. She 



THE AFRICAN TRAVELLER. 69 

was taken captive by tlie Felattahs, and lives in 
a kind of exile. 

Katumga is the first town in the kingdom of 
Houssa, it is built in the form of a square, and 
is the strongest of any one on the route, from 
Tripoli to Soccatoo, being surrounded by a 
double wall, ten feet thick at the base, and 
twenty high. Outside of the walls are three 
dry ditches fifteen feet deep, and twenty wide. 
The houses are built in the Turkish style in a 
few instances. The town contains seven or 
eight thousand inhabitants. 

The country around is very beautiful, highly 
cultivated and neatly fenced. The road is 
thronged with travellers, and females with their 
merchandize sit under the shade of trees. Vil- 
lages are numerous, and the scenery constantly 
changing. 

In one of the villages, there are huge masses 
of rock partially connected with a range of hills 
in the neighborhood, some of which rise in 
ledges two hundred feet high, giving to the 
place a most wild and romantic appearance. 
Plantations of cotton, tobacco, and indigo, sep- 
arated by rows of date-trees, adorn the distant 
landscape, while the surrounding country is 
clothed over with elegant shade trees of im- 
mense size. The southern prospect is bounded 
by blue mountains. The country is now just 
recovered from the devastation of a Felattah 
invasion, which took place a few years ago. 
Many populous towns were demolished and the 



70 THE AFRICAN TRAVELLER. 

inhabitants sold. The invaders not only took 
possession of several provinces, but still retain 
them, and multitudes of their nation have taken 
up their permanent abode there. The country 
is delightful, and the Felattahs are the only 
people in Africa who make butter after the 
American fashion. 

Clara. Why, aunt Caroline, how do they 
make butter in any other way ? 

Caroline. I cannot describe to you the pro- 
cess ; but the butter when used has the appear- 
ance of honey. Kano is the great emporium of 
the kingdom, and contains between thirty and 
forty thousand inhabitants, half of whom are 
slaves. It is in about twelve degrees of north 
latitude ; surrounded by morasses and pools of 
stagnant water, which render the atmosphere 
very disagreeable and unwholesome. The 
gutters are open, and overflowing with filth of 
every description, which adds much to the un- 
healthiness of the place. There are two moun- 
tains which rise near each other, a little north of 
the city. The circumference of the city of 
Kano is fifteen miles, the clay walls are thirty 
feet high, with fifteen wooden gates all covered 
with sheet iron. 

Charles, To cover such a space the houses 
cannot be very compact. 

Caroline. One quarter of the town is laid 
out in gardens and fields. 

The market is very fine, and almost every 
thing grown in the country may there be found 



THE AFRICAN TRAVELLER. 71 

in great perfection. The slave-market is held 
in two long booths, and the poor slaves adorned 
with a profusion of native ornaments, are ar- 
ranged in rows, with ample room between for 
the purchasers to pass up and down to examine 
the persons, to see if there are any blemishes in 
the eyes, teeth, &c. &/C. They are very partic- 
ular in looking at the tongue, chest, and limbs, 
to ascertain the strength of the slave, and his 
general health. So cautious are they, that 
they generally take three days to determine 
whether they will keep them after having pur- 
chased and paid for them, and if they find any 
defect in that time they are returned, and the 
seller is obliged to give back the purchase 
money. 

Clara. Are the slaves allowed to retain 
their finery? 

Caroline. O no ; that is kept in reserve to dress 
out for the market the next gang of slaves, when 
they are sufficiently fattened. For it is a common 
thing for the slave merchant to buy for almost 
nothing a large number of half famished slaves, 

when they are first brought in, after having been 

dragged in chains for months through deserts 

and forests. 

Janette. Who will purchase them of the 

merchants 1 

Caroline. Every one is anxious to obtain 

them, when well fitted for the market. 

The moment of their arrival, the merchant 

makes the best bargain possible for the whole 



72 THE AFRICAN TRAVELLER, 

gang, they are immediately bathed, and their 
swollen limbs anointed with vegetable butter, or 
oil, and then supplied with the best food till they 
recover their wasted flesh and strength. They 
are then loaded with finery, and exposed in the 
market for sale. 

Charles. Are they not very unhappy ? 

Caroline. For a short time they are so, but 
it is not unusual to see them very merry, and 
even dancing in their chains ; but they are ex- 
tremely ignorant, and the deceptions and arts 
practised upon them are innumerable. 

The most credulous of the poor creatures anti- 
cipate an easy life after being purchased, and ex- 
pect as much foo-foo and accason as they can eat, 

Charles. What kind of food is it ? 

Caroline. Foo-foo is the common food of the 
rich, and greatly coveted by the poor. There 
are two kinds, black and white. The former is 
made of yams, boiled a little, sliced, and then 
dried enough to pound fine. After sifting it is 
made by stirring a quantity of the powder into a 
little cold water, and then pouring boiling water 
over it, stirring it briskly all the while till it be- 
comes stiff enough to roli into balls of any size. 
It is eaten with gravy, soups, or palm oil. 

White foo-foo is made of yams boiled tender 
and mashed in water enough to make it easy to 
roll up in balls, like lumps of butter sold in 
our markets ; in this form they are carried to 
the African markets and fetch a high price. 
Accason is made of millet, a small kind of 



THE AFRICAN TRAVELLER. 73 

corn. After steeping the ground flour in water 
till very sour, it is boiled into a paste thicker 
than hasty pudding ; it resembles the poi so 
much used at the Sandwich Islands, is very 
nourishing, and to the natives, luxurious living. 
Charles. It makes my heart ache to think 
of the poor slaves in those heathen kingdoms. 
What can be done to prepare them for eternity? 
Caroline. I do not see what you or I could 
have done, except to pray for them, till the 
countries of Central Africa had been explored, 
the situation, government, resources and popu- 
lation of the several nations ascertained, and the 
state of society described. Ail this has now 
been done by enterprising merchauts, and trav- 
ellers ; and the Christian world is left without 
excuse, if it leaves them destitute of teachers 
qualified to instruct them, in Christianity, and 
the arts. 

In making the world acquainted with the 
physical, intellectual and moral condition of 
the inhabitants of the interior of this vast conti- 
nent, several valuable lives have been lost, 
and much money has been expended by British 
statesmen and philanthropists. 

The American Colonization Society, have 
done much for poor Africa, and with the bless- 
ing of God will do vastly more in the glorious 
work of reclaiming it from the dominion of the 
powers of darkness. But a thousand fold more 
might, ought, and must be done to bless those 
myriads of souls with the light of everlasting 
life. 



74 THE AFRICAN TRAVELLER. 

Pious colored men and women can be found ? 
and when educated, sent to preach the gospel, 
and teach the rising generation. Before they 
shall be prepared to enter the field, I have no 
doubt but English merchants will have realized 
immense profits from the goods wafted on board 
steam- vessels upon the waters of the Kovvara, to 
the very heart of Africa. 

A few days since I read in a periodical, that 
two steam-boats were nearly ready to leave En- 
gland for Africa, with high expectations of as- 
cending the river Niger (Kowara) with a large 
amount of merchandize ; and shall the soldiers 
of the Cross linger, and hesitate to follow with 
the proclamations of mercy, from a dying, risen 
Saviour? Will not the benighted millions of 
Africa rise in the mind of superintendents and 
teachers in Sabbath schools, when they lend 
their aid in the formation of juvenile benevolent, 
societies in these nurseries of the church? 

The way is rapidly opening on the east, north, 
and south of Liberia, for the entrance of evan- 
gelical laborers ; and around that blessed spot, 
the fields are white, waving, and ready to yield 
a glorious harvest. 

After this long digression, I will go back to 
the market at Kano ; where you will find in ad- 
dition to all I have mentioned, jugglers with 
dancing snakes carried in leathern bags, exhibit- 
ing feats very wonderful in the eyes of trre- 
credulous natives ; and boxers engaged in the 
most fierce and bloody contests which seldom 



THE AFRICAN TRAVELLER. 75 

dose without the death of several of the com- 
batants. Some of these exhibitions exceed in 
brutality, similar spectacles witnessed in Rome 
during the reign of Nero. 

Charles. Among the gladiators, aunt ? 
Caroline. Yes ; but I do not mean to give 
the impression that at Kano there was as much 
pomp and show as at Rome, after the senators 
and knights engaged with the gladiators, who 
had been trained up for combat. But this cruel 
sport is as keenly relished by the African sheiks 
and sultans, as it ever could have been by the 
Roman emperors. 

Clara. Are the Houssa women ever seen at 
these combats ? 

Caroline. O yes ; they delight in such 
bloody games, but I never heard that they en- 
gaged in them, as you know the Roman women 
did. 

Clara. If I ever knew they did I had forgot- 
ten it. 

Janette. It was in my lesson yesterday. At 
one show, the emperor Nero exhibited four 
hundred senators, and six hundred knights ; and 
as the power and luxury of Rome increased, 
the women seemed to forget their inferiority, 
and engaged among the combatants. 

Caroline. Do you remember how many 
years these games were exhibited there, and 
who abolished them ? 

Janette. They were abolished by Constan- 



76 THE AFRICAN TRAVELLER. 

tine the Great, after having continued six hun- 
dred years. 

Caroline. You are right ; but they were 
revived under Constantius, and two of his suc- 
cessors, and continued to be in favor with the 
people, till Honorius put an end to them forever. 
The Houssa females are more disposed to 
cultivate a taste for dress, than for boxing- 
matches, as they are so very fond of personal 
embellishments that the time and labor of paint- 
ing their eye-brows, hair, hands, arms, legs and 
feet, are nothing accounted of. 

Clara. The business of the toilet with 
them must be tedious, unless they have some 
method of painting unknown to us? 

Caroline. Blue is the favorite color, and 
however unpleasant to us, the process of 
beautifying our persons by their rules, yet they 
are never more happy, than when thus employed, 
and their adroitness is truly surprising. When 
a young girl enters a street in Kano with a 
looking glass in one hand, and a feather fly- 
brush in the other, covered with blue paint, she 
manifests the same self-complacency, and courts 
admiration, apparently, with the same emotions 
exhibited by the vain and conceited young 
ladies in all the cities of America. 

Clara. Do they have comfortable furniture 
in their houses? 

Caroline. Yes ; comfortable in their estima- 
tion, but not in ours. However they have some 
very convenient articles of their own manufac- 



THE AFRICAN TRAVELLER. 77 

ttrre, especially the jars in which they keep 
their butter, lard, honey, and such like things. 
These are a great curiosity, being made of rams- 
skins, which, when wet, are stretched over clay 
moulds and exactly fitted to their forms. 

Charles. Is Kano the only large town in that 
region ? 

Caroline. No ; there is one other which con- 
tains from twenty to twenty-five thousand inhabi- 
tants, many of whom are refugees from neigh- 
boring kingdoms. They are neat, civil, and 
industrious. The roads leading to Kano from 
this town are wide, and continually thronged 
with beasts of burden, and passengers who are 
mostly engaged in trade, or are guarding the 
immense quantities of goods and grain trans- 
ported over the country to find a market. 

The castle of the governor is built of clay, 
with a square tower three stories high. The 
houses have flat roofs with battlements. Instead 
of window-blinds or shutters of wood, to exclude 
dust, flies, and heat, they have fine mats, or rush 
curtains, very curiously wrought, which admit 
light, and air; doors of the inner apartments are 
made of similar materials. The better sort of 
houses are made of the clay mortar, in which 
grass has been mixed ; this is made into large 
balls or blocks and dried perfectly, then laid in 
mortar like brick or stone, and it then receives 
a thick coat of plaster on the outside, and with- 
in, a thin one. When finished, the appearance 
is nearly as good as the houses at Cairo. The 
7 



78 THE AFRICAN TRAVELLER. 

water is conveyed through hard baked clay 
pipes, in much the same way that we carry ours 
through wooden or leaden ones. Two or three 
date-trees adorn almost every dwelling, which 
furnish food and shade to the family. There 
is a bird of the jay species that gives the people 
more trouble by carrying off the dates, than the 
robbins do us in cherry time ; the ibis, stork, 
adjutant crane, and a variety of other birds are 
very plenty, and build their nests in the shade 
trees about the town ; doves and pigeons are 
plenty. 

I cannot relate any more respecting Africa 
now ; but when your uncle Byram returns, yots 
shall hear more. 



CHAPTER VI. 

"Hark S — what means those lamentations 
Rolling sadly through the sky ? 
'Tis the cry of heathen nations, 
■ Come and help us, or we die ! ' " 

" Has your aunt Caroline travelled with you 
about Africa since I have been absent !" said 
Mr. Spencer the evening after his arrival. 

" O yes ! " said Charles, " she took us all the 
way from Mandara to Kano, in the kingdom of 
Houssa." 

Byram. Did she tell you about the elephants 
and antelopes, the partridges and other birds, 
Clara i 

Clara. She told us about many animals and 
some birds, but not one of these. 

" Did she describe the beautiful environs of 
Zaria," said he, " where every thing is so fresh, 
and the rice fields so luxuriant?" 
Clara. No, uncle. 

JByram. This pleasant village has been over- 
thrown by the Felattahs, but is fast recovering ; 
papas, melons, and sweet potatoes are very 
plenty there. 



80 THE AFRICAN TRAVELLER. 

Charles. Who are the Felattahs 1 
By ram. The same as the Fellans, and Foil- 
lahs, they are all the same people. Zaria is 
now a Felattah city containing forty or fifty 
thousand inhabitants, mostly Felattahs ; the 
houses are circular, and the tops ornamented 
with ostrich eggs. There is a mosque, with a 
minaret or steeple fifty feet high. The Felat- 
tah herdsmen improve the rich pastures in the 
vicinity, and their plantations are fine. They 
own large herds of beautiful white cattle, which 
graze in the valleys, or lie under the shade trees 
chewing the cud upon the sloping sides of 
gentle hills ; the herdsmen cry, " ah hea hay ! " 
in a soft shrill tone, and all their cattle follow 
them lowing. Long avenues of lofty trees 
stretch along from the north to the south, skirt- 
ing the horizon, which adds much to the beauty 
of the prospect. The inhabitants are heathens 
and Moslems. After leaving Kano for Soccatoo, 
the country is not very well cultivated, and the 
roads are full of mud, water, woods, and swamps; 
here and there a village in ruins adds to the 
dreariness of the prospect. After passing over 
ridges of rocky hills and deep ravines, rich pas-* 
tures with large flocks of sheep and goats, and 
hundreds of cattle are seen. The most beauti- 
ful object met with, is the accacia-tree , with its 
large yellow and white flowers among the dusky 
green leaves, looking like gold and silver tassels 
on a cloak of dark green velvet. All the little 
hills in the vicinity are ornamented with these 



THE AFRICAN TRAVELLER. §J 

beautiful trees. Beyond Gaza, the country is 
full of swamps and lakes, the borders of which 
are the resort of innumerable wild beasts. 

I have now conducted you to Soccatoo, but I 
will not describe the city till after I have taken 
you to Badagry, and conducted you through 
several countries, in the route to Soccatoo from 
the south. 

Charles. Where is Badagry, uncle? 

Byram. Get your map, and look it out. 

Charles. It is in the south-east corner of 
Yourriba or Dahomy, near the sea-shore. 

Byram. Whoever follows in the track of 
captain Clapperton, will find the path for two or 
three days covered with high grass on the plains, 
and the woody tracts almost impenetrable from 
the thick underbrush. And after leaving the 
forests the land is low and flat, the soil a red- 
dish clay and sand. 

When captain Clapperton reached the first 
town, he with his party halted under a large 
tree, and immediately an immense throng gath- 
ered around, in the greatest agitation to behold 
the white strangers* So eager were they to see 
them, that many climbed upon the shoulders of 
the tallest. A war chief on horseback pranced 
and curvetted until within a few yards of the 
travellers, he then dismounted, and set down till 
the gentlemen sent him an umbrella ; he then 
arose and advanced towards them in a dancing 
step, to the music of drums and the clapping of 
more than a thousand hands. He was dressed in ; 



82 THE AFRICAN TRAVELLER. 

nankin under clothes, with a light mantle over 
his shoulders, and a velvet cap upon his head ; 
all his attendants wore blue velvet caps. A 
little favorite slave boy ran about among them, 
dressed in a red coat faced with yellow, and with 
a military cap and feather. 

When the strangers were presented to the 
head chief of the town, who is called a caboccer, 
he was seated on a mat, encircled by his women 
and counsellors dressed in a scarlet silk robe, 
a cap of curiously wrought beads of all colors 
and patterns, a large bunch of coral in front, 
and yellow bead tassels hanging from the top. 
The handle of his fly brush was ornamented 
with all kinds of beads of the most gaudy colors* 
The strangers were received with every mark 
of attention, a house appropriated to their sole 
use for the night, and firewood, yams, and a 
good sheep sent for their suppers. 

They had scarcely taken possession and be- 
gan to prepare their food, before the wives 
and daughters of the caboceer surrounded the 
house, peeping through every crack and crevice 
to get a view of the white men. 

Charles. What is the name of the town. 

Byram. Bu-ka. It is nearly in ruins, but 
surrounded by very fine plantations of Indian 
corn. 

Janette. How do people travel from Bada- 
gry to Soccatoo ? 

Byram. Sometimes upon horses, asses, and 
bullocks, but more frequently in hammocks, 



THE AFRICAN TRAVELLER. 83 

borne on the shoulders of men as the palan- 
quins are in India. The hammock is formed 
much like those used by sailors ; some of them 
are handsome, and the canopies and pillars ex- 
pensive. Wherever the travellers stopped to 
pass a night, the house allotted to them was 
instantly surrounded by the natives who usually 
sung and danced all night ; sometimes they sing 
in chorus. 

The young chief at Bidgie, entreated captain 
Clapperton to stop a few days, as he was the 
first white man they had ever seen. The road 
from this town to Laboo is much of the way as 
smooth as a carpet, and lays through beautiful 
plantations of corn, and yams, and groves of 
elegant trees. The town is situated on a hill, 
and commands a most enchanting prospect. 
Each of these African towns have a governor, 
and when the Englishmen saw the ruler of this 
town for the first time, he was sitting on a mat 
in the verandah (porch) of his house with two 
hundred of his wives, who were entertaining him. 
Charles. How many wives had he 1 
Hyram. I do not remember to have heard, 
but some of the African kings have more than 
a thousand. Captain Clapperton observed that 
this caboceer's house stood fronting a large 
square, which was full of people, and every one 
of the head men who approached this great man, 
prostrated himself in the dust at full length, 
pressing the earth first with his left cheek, then 
his right, and before rising, he devoutly kissed 



84 THE AFRICAN TRAVELLER. 

it, but even then he dared not present himself 
to the chief, till Ins head had been daubed with 
clay and dust. 

When told that the English have but one 
wife, the caboceer and his wives were very mer- 
ry, and laughed heartily. When the stran- 
gers left Laboo, the governor and almost the 
whole population followed them miles, the wo- 
men singing in chorus extempore songs. Some- 
times they found shelter for a night in a palaver 
house, a kind of court-house. The night they put 
up in this kind of building at Jannah, they were 
surrounded by thousands of natives, who shouted 
and laughed immoderately at the wonderful ap- 
pearance of the lohite man. Within an hour the 
chief appeared, in a gorgeous robe of yellow silk, 
and a scarlet velvet cap ; his horsewhip was 
richly ornamented with beads and paint. This 
he carried in one hand, and a number of silver 
bells in the other, which he shook and rattled 
every time he condescended to speak ; at the 
same time brandishing his gay whip over his 
head with the other. A mat was spread for 
him and covered with scarlet cloth, and a leather 
cushion placed for him to sit upon. A great 
number of females gathered round him, chant- 
ing songs. 

Clara. In what kingdom is Jannah situated ? 

By ram. It is the frontier town of the king- 
dom of Yourriba. I hope you do not receive 
the impression, that I stop to describe every 



THE AFRICAN TRAVELLER. 85 

town and village in each country and province 
I have attempted to sketch. 

Charles. No, uncle, / have not ; for I suppose 
there are a large number of them on the route 
from Badagry to Yourriba. 

Byram. Yes ; towns containing from eight 
to fifteen thousand souls are frequent, and 
villages stiil more so. Plantations of corn, yams, 
cotton and plaintains, diversifies the scenes 
between the dense forests, that cover large 
districts. 

The Jannah market is well supplied with all 
kinds of food, dress, toys, and fruit, that is 
necessary for the natives. In the evening, the 
crowd which assembles around the market is 
immense; the boys dancing under the stalls, the 
men jumping over the baskets of provision, and 
the women still more noisy. 

Clara. ' Had the English travellers no better 
accommodations furnished, than what the pala- 
ver house afforded 1 

Byram. O yes ; after the first night, the 
old chief provided a good house for them, and 
supplied them with ducks, pigeons, pigs, and 
fruit in great plenty. The people here are more 
industrious and ingenious than is usual in 
Africa. Sometimes there will be ten looms in 
one house, but you must bear in mind, that 
their cloth is only a few inches wide, of course 
a loom could not be much larger than one of our 
tape looms ; the women dye the yarn, and the 
boys weave it. Carving is much practiced 



86 THE AFRICAN TRAVELLER. 

here; the doors, windows, drums, and every 
wooden article, is covered with figures of croco- 
diles, snakes, and men. 

The inhabitants of the province of Badagry 
sustain a good reputation, for honesty and civil- 
ity. 

As a general thing, dogs are ill treated in 
Africa ; but in this town, they are very much 
caressed, and made to wear ornamented col- 
lars ; all the great men have a dog to sit by their 
side, and to visit and journey with them. It is 
common to meet large parties of five or six hun- 
dred men and women, and some children, with 
heavy loads on their heads, guarded by armed 
men, who march ten or twelve in number, be- 
tween every division of fifty or sixty. 

Janelte. How do they manage to keep the 
burden on the head ? 

Byram. Strings are fastened to the parcel 
in several places, which hang around the face 
and neck, and whenever the carrier wishes to 
adjust his load, he pulls a string that will in- 
stantly effect it. 

The approach to the town of Emmadoo, in 
the same country, is very beautiful, the road 
leading through a long grove of elegant trees, 
at the end of which is a stockade eighteen feet 
high, with a wicker gate ; other neighboring 
towns contain from six to ten thousand inhabi- 
tants, supplied with all the necessaries of life 
in rich abundance; but the intellectual and 



THE AFRICAN TRAVELLER. 87 

moral darkness is without one ray of heavenly 
light. 

The mountainous range continues about 
eighty miles, the highest points of which do not 
exceed twenty-five hundred, and where the road 
winds along, not more than fifteen hundred. 
The houses look like birds cages, as they are seen 
perched upon some of the lofty eminences over- 
looking the beautiful plantations below. Some- 
times the proprietors of the plantations form 
villages on the high hills. The road through 
the mountain pass sometimes rises almost per- 
pendicularly, and then descending in the midst 
of rocks into deep valleys ; then winding beau- 
tifully round the side of a steep hill, with pro- 
jecting rocks, threatening the destruction of the 
passing traveller. 

In every cleft of the hills, cottages appear 
surrounded by little, patches of cotton, corn, or 
millet. 

After rising in this way at least two miles, the 
large and populous town of Chaki appears on 
the very summit of the highest hill. The neigh- 
boring hills, rocks, and roads seem swarming 
with inhabitants, who speedily assemble in 
thousands, at the approach of strangers, but no- 
where among this rude, yet interesting scenery, 
is the eye, ear, or heart of a Christian cheered by 
the tall spires of churches, the Sabbath bell, and 
the hum of the school. But all is noisy mirth 
and revelry, when the toils of the day are over. 
At the northern termination of this mountainous 



88 THE AFRICAN TRAVELLER. 

range is the town of Koosoo, with twenty thou- 
sand inhabitants, all i{ unblessed, unsaved." 

Charles. And how long must they remain 
so? 

By ram. Till Christians make the salvation 
of the world the first object of their desire, 
and give it their most anxious and ardent pursuit. 

Charles. If I am not deceived, uncle, it is 
the first object with me. 

Byram. Then let us have evidence of it by 
your active and self-denying efforts to procure 
means to furnish them with the gospel of Christ, 
and teachers to lead them into all truth. Every 
man and every woman who enters the visible 
church of Christ, professes to renounce the 
world, and henceforth to live and labor to bring 
sinners to know and embrace the Lord Jesus 
Christ, but it is feared many deceive themselves 
and others, for " the tree is known by its fruit." 

Beyond this mountainous district, is a beau- 
tiful, well cultivated plain, studded with Felattah 
villages, the inhabitants of which live a harm- 
less, pastoral, quiet life, entirely disconnected 
with the negroes, whose customs they never 
adopt. Villages are scattered all the way from 
Chika to Eyeo, the capital of Yourriba, though 
most of them in a ruinous condition. One of 
them, however, named Tshoiv, is in a beautiful 
valley, planted with elegant shade trees and 
bananas, having green lawns and sheets of 
water running through the centre. 



THE AFRICAN TRAVELLER. $$ 

Janette. Do the people of Yourriba resemble 
the surrounding nations? 

By ram. So far as a jetty skin is concerned, 
they do, but their lips are thinner, and their 
noses smaller than those near the coast. The 
men are well formed, and have an independent 
carriage. The women are much exposed, and 
have a coarse appearance. 

Several years ago, captain Clapperton was at 
Tshow, and the king of Yourriba hearing of it, 
sent an escort from the royal city Eyeo, to con- 
duct him to his presence. The captain and his 
party found the road wide though woody, and 
covered by men on horseback, and bowmen on 
foot. Horns and drums were blowing and 
beating, on all sides. The cavalry, armed with 
two or three long spears apiece, hurried on in 
great haste. They were dressed out in native 
style, and covered with charms. 

Clara. Uncle, I cannot understand what is 
meant by charms. 

By ram. Remember to ask me to explain it 
to-morrow, and I will not interrupt my present 
story. "I will," said the little girl, and her 
uncle proceeded. 

The bowmen wear little hats ornamented 
with feathers, and have leather bags suspended 
from their girdles. The horses are small and 
mean-looking ; the saddles are so ill secured, and 
the rider has so little skill, that an English or 
American horseman, on a good saddle, would 
upset any of the best, armed with a long stick. 
8 



90 THE AFRICAN TRAVELLER. 

The whole cavalcade entered the city, followed 
by an innumerable throng, and proceeded five 
miles before they arrived at the residence of the 
king, who sat under his piazza, the slaves hold- 
ing two red and two blue umbrellas supported 
on long poles around him. 

He said he had often heard of wiiite men, 
but had never seen one before the arrival of 
captain Clapperton. The king was so urgent 
to retain his guest to witness some of his theat- 
rical exhibitions, that the captain cheerfully 
complied. 

Janette. What kind of exhibitions were they, 
uncle. 

Byram. Tumbling in sacks, dancing with 
the head dressed fantastically in damasks, rags, 
and party colored cotton streamers, were among 
the performances in the first exhibition. 

Janctle. Where were these performances 
witnessed ? 

Byram. In a large square surrounded by 
clumps of shade trees. " The festival of one 
day concluded with the exhibition of the white, 
devil, which had the appearance of a human 
figure in white wax, looking miserably thin, and 
as if starved with cold, taking snuff, rubbing its 
hands, treading the ground as if tender-footed, 
and evidently meant to burlesque and ridicule a 
white man, while his sable majesty frequently 
appealed to the captain whether it was not well 
performed." 



THE AFRICAN TRAVELLER. 91 

The king's women immediately sung a cho- 
rus, and the whole assembly united in it. 

On one occasion the captain was sent for by 
the king, and when he arrived, the king was 
seated in an old red damask easy-chair, with a 
row of caboceers from the country seated in 
front of him, dressed in leopard skin robes, their 
heads and faces covered with clay and dirt, ac- 
quired in their repeated prostrations after coming 
to court. No caboceer is allowed to appear in 
the presence of the king of Yourriba in a splen- 
did robe, beads, feathers, or coral. Whenever 
the leopard skin is laid aside, a plain blue cloth, 
or mantle is substituted. 

The Yourribas are extravagantly fond of stat- 
uary, and in almost every court (yard) are to be 
seen figures of men and women, as large as life. 
The king's houses, and those occupied by his 
wives, cover nearly a square mile. Two large 
parks are in front. The houses are built of 
clay, and the roofs are thatched. The posts 
that support the verandahs and doors are carved 
in figures of serpents, antelopes, hogs, warriors, 
drummers, and other equally interesting designs. 
The city has a wall twenty feet high, and near it 
a thick belt of noble trees. The whole circum- 
ference of Eyeo is about fifteen miles, measur- 
ing six miles in diameter one way, and four the 
other. It has ten gates, and seven markets 
held every evening ; well supplied with goats, 
fowls, sheep of the common kind, fruit, vegeta- 
bles, &c. The horses are small, and not very 



92 THE AFRICAN TRAVELLER. 

spirited, but they have fine horned cattle. Most 
of the cows have humps on their backs like those 
of Abyssinia. Although the country affords such 
ample supplies of cotton, indigo, cattle, and 
fruit, yet almost all the commerce with the coast 
is in slaves, which are exchanged for rum, to- 
bacco and European cloths. 

Charles. How much will a slave sell for ? 

IByram. At Jannah, from about twelve to 
twenty dollars. Nearly the whole population of 
Yourriba are in a state of slavery to either the 
king or his caboceers. Domestic slaves are 
never sold by this people, unless for miscon- 
duct. 

There is a more striking distinction between 
the rich and poor there, than in most civilized 
countries. When the poor die, they are buried 
without the least ceremony, or thrown into the 
nearest pond; but when a man of wealth and 
rank dies, his remains receive the highest honors 
they are capable of paying. He is seated in his 
grave in an upright posture, and then guns are 
fired across it, and at the same time in 
the house where he died, till all the ammunition 
is expended. When a king dies, four of his cabo- 
ceers, and four favorite women, besides a great 
number of slaves, are obliged to swallow poison 
prepared by a fetich-man, who usually presents 
it to the victims in the egg shell of a parrot. 

While at Eyeo, captain Clapperton was within 
thirty miles of the river Kowara, the long talk- 
ed of Niger, but it was impossible to obtain the 



THE AFRICAN TRAVELLER. 93 

consent of the king to visit it ; at one time he 
would say, " the road is not safe ; " at another, 
" the Felattahs have possession of the country ; 
and what would the king of England say if any- 
thing should happen to his guest." Indeed it 
was with difficulty that he obtained permission to 
proceed on his travels — the king offering him 
many wives if he would remain. 

Clara, How many had the king ? 

Byram. He said he did not know himself, 
but he presumed if they stood hand in hand, 
they would reach from Eyeo to Jannah. The 
virtues of modesty and temperance are, alas, but 
little known in Central Africa. 

Clara. What country comes after Yourriba? 

Byram. Borgoo. Kiama is one of its largest 
cities, containing about thirty thousand inhabi- 
tants. 

Charles. Who is the king 1 

Byram. The country is governed by the 
sultan Yarro y who, having heard that an English 
traveller was approaching Kiama, mounted a 
fine charger, and followed by several warriors 
on horseback, and six young girls on foot, each 
bearing a light spear, waited upon captain Clap- 
perton. As the girls reached the door of the hut 
where the traveller was resting himself, they 
stopped and bound a piece of cloth about their 
waists. 

Janette. What did they wear on the road ? 

Byram. Nothing but a white fillet bound 
round their heads, and tied in a bow behind. 



94 THE AFRICAN TRAVELLER. 

After an hour's visit the party took their leave, 
the young ladies carefully wrapping up the 
cloth the moment they left the house. 

The next day the traveller waited on the 
sultan, and when he spread out the present 
designed for him, which consisted of several 
useful articles, beads and other ornaments, be- 
sides a sword, his eyes sparkled, and his joy for 
a lew moments was unutterable ; at length his eye 
caught several strings of large coral beads, 
which he seized, and holding them up before 
the circle of young girls nearly as much en- 
raptured as himself, he shook them first at one, 
then at another, as much as to say, who of you 
all will be so happy as to get them? He bran- 
dished the sword over his head, exclaiming "Ya 
Batura! Ya Batura!" — "Oh my white lord! 
Oh my white lord ! " 

Leaving Kiama, our traveller proceeded to- 
wards Bonssa, and soon fell in with a caravan 
from Ashanta on their way to Houssa, consist- 
ing of more than a thousand persons ; the bul- 
locks, horses, asses, men, and women, all in a 
line, forming a very curious and motley group. 
The slave women were cruelly loaded with 
goods. Even the free women often hire them- 
selves to carry burdens to and from the Nyffee 
country. The country around Kiama is occu- 
pied by Felattah shepherds, who often take care 
of Yarro's cattle. Buffaloes, and elephants are 
very numerous, and a Bagroo hunter is a curious 
object, dressed as he always is in a leopard skin 



THE AFRICAN TRAVELLER. 95 

robe, his bow and quiver of arrows slung upon 
his shoulder, and a light spear in his hand, fol- 
lowed by several cream-colored dogs with hand- 
some gay collars, and a slave to carry home the 
game. I will tell you what happened at Wa-wa 
to-morrow. 



CHAPTER VII. 

ft Let Africa's thrones and kingdoms lie 
Obedient, mighty God, to thee! 
And over land, and stream, and main, 
Now wave the sceptre of thy reign ! " 

"Now, uncle Byram, you will make me under- 
stand the meaning of fetich, will you?" said 
Clara, the moment she found him disengaged. 

Byram. Yes, fetiches are the same as idols ; 
some tribes in Africa have a national fetich, 
but in the common acceptation of the word it 
is an object supposed to possess divine power. 
" This is sometimes a bird's feather, a shark's 
tooth ; occasionally a tree, a serpent, a toad ; the 
horn, the hoof, the hair, the teeth of all manner 
of quadrupeds ; the beaks, the claws, skulls, and 
bones of birds ; heads and skins of snakes ; shells 
and fins of fishes ; pieces of old iron, copper, 
wood, seeds of plants, and sometimes a mixture 
of all or most of them strung together. The 
vilest things in nature serve for a negro's 
fetich ; they are a compound of every abomina- 
tion. In the choice of them they consult cer- 
tain persons called fetich-men, who form a kind 



THE AFRICAN TRAVELLER. 97 

of priesthood. The fetich, however, is not 
merely an amulet ; prayers, abstinence, and 
penances are enjoined to its worshippers. The 
fetich-man, it seems, can give another, more 
propitious fetich in exchange for that which is 
more insensible to the interests of its worship- 
pers; and he has the lucrative power of render- 
ing sacred or fetiching ', as it is named in Africa, 
any part of a man's property he pleases. It is 
an amulet, a deity, and a guardian genius." 
This superstition is doubtless one great cause 
of the ignorance and immorality of the Africans. 

Charles. It reminds me of the tabu system 
of the South Sea islands. 

Byram. Yes, it does in some respects re- 
semble that, and also the once terrible inter- 
dict of the Pope of Rome. 

Do you now understand what a fetich means, 
Clara ? 

Clara. I think I do, uncle. 

Byram. Janette, what did I promise to tell 
you, to-day ? 

Janette. What happened at Wa-wa. 

Byram. When captain Clapperton, and his 
servant Richard Lander arrived before the gate 
of that city, which contains eighteen or twenty 
thousand inhabitants, they were conducted to the 
house of the sheik, or governor, but were obliged 
to halt under the shade of a tree, and wait till 
the governor was pleased to call him into his 
presence. 

A high stool being placed at the door of the 



98 THE AFRICAN TRAVELLER. 

palace, the sheik appeared, bearing a staff of 
state, and taking his seat, directed the captain 
to dismount, which he did immediately, and 
walked up between two rows of attendants 
ranged on either side of the sheik, and offered 
to shake hands with him. But the poor man, 
fearing the touch of a white man w r ould be death, 
wrapped his hands in the folds of his robe, and 
looked much agitated. 

Charles. How was he disposed of? 

By ram. He was invited to spend the night 
at the house of a rich widow of one of the high- 
est chiefs, who had recently died. She was 
dressed in deep mourning, which consisted of a 
large rope tied round her head, another about 
the neck, and a third around her waist. An- 
other widow named Zwna, of Arab descent, 
paid them great attention ; she owned the best 
house in the city, and had in her possession at 
least a thousand slaves. The people of the city 
are very intemperate and noisy, spending the 
greater part of the nights in dancing and enjoy- 
ing vocal and instrumental music. 

Charles. What kind of instruments do they 
use, uncle? 

Byram. Violins, made from large gourd-shells 
separated in the middle, and untwisted horse hair 
drawn across for strings ; pebbles put into whole 
gourd-shells, and rattled, with a sort of guitar, 
and castanet. Minstrels wander from place to 
place, singing extempoie and traditionary songs, 
some of which bear a strong resemblance to the 



THE AFRICAN TRAVELLER. 99 

celebrated poems of Ossian. I will sometime 
give you several specimens which I have care- 
fully preserved. 

Clara. Do tell us where the English gentle- 
man and his servant went from Wa-wa. 

By ram. To Boussa, a city on an island, (in 
the river Kowara, or Niger,) which is three 
miles long, and one and a half wide. It was 
near this place that the lamented Mungo Park 
lost his life. A native of Boussa told captain 
Clapperton that he was an eye witness of the 
death of that enterprising traveller ; that when 
Park's boat came down the river Kowara, (the 
name now given to the former Niger, Qualla, 
&c.,) it unfortunately happened to be the very 
moment that the Felattahs had risen in arms, 
and were ravaging the country ; and that when 
the sultan of Boussa heard of the approach of a 
boat, unlike any other ever before seen in the 
country, he ordered his people to attack it, not 
doubting it was a party of the advance guard 
of the Felattah army, under the command of the 
father of the present sultan Bello of Soccatoo ; 
and he furthermore said that the strangers 
fought three days before they were killed. 

Charles. Do you credit this account? 
Byram. Yes, I do ; for the man related it 
of his own accord, and many circumstances 
occurred to corroborate its truth while Clapper- 
ton remained there. He tried to converse with 
the sultan upon the subject, but it was evidently 
a painful topic, and every time it was hinted at, 



100 THE AFRICAN TRAVELLER. 

he became agitated ; saying the captain must 
not go to visit the spot, it was a very bad place* 
It is supposed that Park's journal has been pre- 
served, and will one day be obtained ; however, 
I think it very doubtful. 

Charles. Are the sultan and people of JBous* 
sa very much civilized ? 

Byrarn. They were not at the time I am 
speaking of. One morning, the breakfast of the 
sultan consisted of a large water-rat broiled with 
the skin on, rice, dried t fish stewed in oil, with 
the eggs of crocodiles. 

Clara. O, uncle, do not add anything more 
to this royal breakfast. 

Byram. I will not ; but I will just mention 
that the sultan and his nobles eat monkeys, 
dogs and cats, as well as rats, fish, mutton and 
beef. This city is surrounded by fine planta- 
tions of cotton, corn, and yams ; and just out- 
side the city are several pleasant villages ; and 
fetich-houses, corresponding with the temples of 
the heathen, for the people are altogether heath- 
en. Milk is the fetich of the sultan. 

The armor of the warriors consists of a circu- 
lar shield of tanned leather, and a robe thickly 
plaited over the breast ; bows, arrows, spears, 
and a heavy club loaded with iron, are their 
principal weapons. Zuma, the widow of whom 
I spoke as showing much attention to the En- 
glish traveller, rides astride upon a fine horse 
decked out in brass plates upon his head, bells 
of the same metal on his neck ; red, green, and 



THE AFRICAN TRAVELLER. LQ1 

yellow amulet cases, almost covering his body. 
A thousand of these charms or fetiches were 
counted upon the person of one chief, and the fur- 
niture of his horse. A scarlet breast-piece, with 
-a star blazing in the centre, and scarlet saddle- 
cloth trimmed with gold lace, completed the 
gaudy trappings of the animal, and the rider 
with a mantle of silk and gold, red morocco 
boots, scarlet pantaletts, and white turban, made 
a splendid if not beautiful appearance. 

In the neighboring villages, blacksmiths are 
very plenty, some of their shops contain five 
forges, and their work is very decently performed. 
One of these villages is named El-wata, near 
which the ant hills resemble Gothic cathedrals, 
measuring fifteen and twenty feet high ; when 
these are deserted they decay, and it is a com- 
mon thing to see a camel, or some other large 
animal plunge into them, and almost to dis- 
appear, when there is nothing on the surface to 
denote their existence. 

Clara. Do the animals never get out again? 

Byram. O yes, but they require help to do 
so. These ants are a serious evil to the coun- 
try ; you have no idea how voracious they are ; 
I have heard of criminals who have been left 
exposed but a short time after execution, that 
have had all the flesh upon the bones devoured 
by them, in some provinces of Africa. 

Charles. Do travellers from Badagry to 
Soccatoo pass through any parts of Nyflfe ? This 
map looks as if that place lay in the direct route. 
9 



102 THE AFRICAN TRAVELLER. 

Byram. Yes ; they pass through Koolfu, a 
sort of central market, where traders meet from 
every part of Soudan, and western Africa. 
This town is situated on the northern bank of 
the river May-yarrow. There are some very 
pretty villages in that neighborhood on the slop- 
ing sides of a mountainous range ; others are in 
rich and beautiful valleys, and on woody hills. 
At one of them named Womba, all the eastern 
caravans halt to rest. The plantations, which 
nearly encircle it, spread out two or three miles. 

Janettc. How large is the town ? 

Byram. It contains ten or twelve thousand 
inhabitants ; but their appearance is very dis- 
gusting, from the odious habit of chewing snuff, 
and dying their hair with indigo. Their eyes 
are yellowish and bloodshot, and the blue paint 
with which they daub their eyebrows, and the 
yellow with which they smear their lips, make 
them in the eyes of Europeans almost monsters, 
notwithstanding the care bestowed in plaiting 
the woolly locks, and arranging the beads, hoops, 
chains, and bracelets, which adorn their necks, 
arms, waists, and legs. The most admired 
finger-rings have silver dollars soldered upon 
them. But I will leave these disagreeable 
ladies, and describe to you Soccatoo and the 
palace of the sultan Bello. This city is the 
capital of the Felattah empire, and is about 
thirteen degrees north latitude. It was built by 
the Felattahs in 1805, and is laid out in regular, 
well-built streets, and contains a larger number 



THE AFRICAN TRAVELLER. 103 

of inhabitants than almost any other city of Africa; 
most of whom are Felattahs, except the slaves, 
who are very numerous. Multitudes are occu- 
pied in domestic labors, and the rest have 
houses, and live by themselves working at some 
trade, for the benefit of their masters. 

There are two excellent markets kept open 
daily from sunrise to sunset. Pewter dishes, 
made in London, and wash-bowls have been 
seen upon the table of the sultan. A river flows 
near the walls of this city, which, at the distance 
of four days' journey, falls into the Kowara ; this 
river supplies the city with excellent fish and 
pure water. The palace of the sultan is com- 
posed of a cluster of cottages, built in the Moor- 
ish style, enclosed by a wall of clay twenty feet 
high. At the entrance is a tower of considera- 
ble height ; indeed there are five towers, rising 
from the buildings enclosed within the palace 
walls. 

A long shed-like building plastered, and fur- 
nished with two chairs equally well plastered 
and colored to resemble mahogany — iri this the 
sultan holds his levees. It has two doors, one 
of which leads into a street of small huts, which 
having passed, you find yourself in a large 
square tower, formed of eight arches, surround- 
ed by a gallery leading into small rooms used 
for sleeping-rooms. Within, the dome is thirty 
or forty feet high, and the air is very cool. The 
females occupy the eastern part of the palace, 
tind are guarded by a large number of eunuchs. 



104 THE AFRICAN TRAVELLER. 

The Soccatoo women are allowed much more 
liberty than most Mohammedans. They oversee 
the slaves belonging to the husband, superintend 
the cooking of his food, and the rest of the time 
employ themselves in cleaning and spinning 
cotton, which they keep by their sides in large 
baskets ; in which most of them secrete a small 
looking-glass, in which to contemplate their 
beautifully painted hair, teeth, eyebrows, and 
eyelashes. 

Juliette. What colors do they use ? 

Byram. Red is the court fashion, and hen- 
na is the herb that furnishes the most highly- 
prized red. 

Clara. How is it obtained ? 

Byram. By boiling the plant and binding it 
on to the parts desired to stain, like a poultice, 
twice a week. The process is tedious and dis- 
agreeable. 

The prison of Soccatoo is worth looking at, 
being about eighteen feet square, with a flat 
roof shaded by green boughs. Thieves, spies, 
and disobedient slaves compose nearly all the 
convicts; no person is allowed to be imprison- 
ed for debt, which is a most savage custom, 
although practiced in some of the United States. 
The prisoners food is very light, and they are 
daily brought out to work on the city walls, or 
some other public work. 

Charles. Are there any curiosities to be 
seen there ? 

Byram. None that I have heard of, unless 



THE AFRICAN TRAVELLER. I(>5 

it be the tomb of Bello's father, which is al- 
ways visited as a holy place by all Moslem stran- 
gers. The same scenes are witnessed here, that 
are visible in every other large African town. 
The slaves are constantly seen passing with some 
kind of burden to and fro, or lying in the shade, 
or at the doors of the great ; idleness is the vice 
of the country, and the mother of all kinds of 
abominations there, as well as every where else. 
Food is so easily obtained, that a few days' 
labor in the year will furnish a man with abun- 
dance of food and raiment. 

The following is the customary routine of a 
day among the Felattahs of Soccatoo. Rise 
at daybreak — wash — say prayers — count their 
beads — chew gooroo-nuts, and then breakfast 
upon a kind of bread, or dry pudding and milk. 
At ten o : clock they eat boiled rice and butter ; 
then visit and lounge in the shade — tell stories 
— hear news — say prayers, and count beads, till 
sunset ; then take their principal meal of meat 
and gravy, fish, pudding and fruit, and soon 
after return to their couches. 

The country around Soccatoo is laid out in 
plantations of indigo, cotton, and grain, and 
studded with numerous slave villages, whose 
inhabitants cultivate the plantations. During 
the seasons of sowing and harvesting, the pro- 
prietors ride out almost daily to observe the 
progress of the labor, and the fidelity of, the 
slaves. 

Clara. How do the men and women dress % 
9* 



106 THE AFRICAN TRAVELLER. 

Byram. The men wear a white frock-like 
robe and loose trowsers of the same, and a man- 
tle trimmed with scarlet silk, and boots, or 
sandals. A huge white muslin turban with 
large loose folds overhangs the brows, and 
partially conceals eyes, nose, and mouth, 
falling over the chin and breast. On the top 
of the turban is a red velvet cap with blue silk 
tassels, and if the person is on a journey the 
whole is surmounted by a broad-brimmed straw 
hat. 

The poorer sort wear checked cloth, and blue 
turbans and caps ; all wear swords over the 
left shoulder. 

The ladies of Soccatoo wear striped cotton or 
silk garments, something like petticoats falling 
nearly to the ancle ; silver rings for the ears and 
hands are coveted by all ; especially such finger- 
rings as have the plates made of Spanish dollars : 
these almost entirely cover the two middle fin- 
gers, but they are greatly admired. Rings are 
worn upon the great toes of the rich, who paint 
their toes red, as well as their fingers and arms. 
The neck, arms, waist, and legs are loaded with 
chains, bracelets, beads, and amber, among all 
who a:re able to procure such costly embellish- 
ments. In addition to all these articles, a small 
looking-glass, suspended from the neck, is worn 
by every female who can afford it. They wear 
the hair frizzled out all round the head, or fold- 
ed over the forehead like a bandeau. Little 
girls dress like their mothers after ten years of 



THE AFRICAN TRAVELLER. 1Q7 

age ; before that, they wear a cloth pointed with 
red or blue, fastened behind, and two lappets 
pointed in the same way hanging nearly to the 
feet. 

Charles, Do the Felattah children receive 
any kind of education? 

Byram. Yes, about one in ten of them are 
taught to read and write Arabic. But amongst 
the throng of immortal souls dwelling in and 
around Soccatoo, I never heard the belief expres- 
sed, that one of them had a holy heart, or lived 
a holy life. It is a most afflictive subject for 
Christian contemplation. 

Were Christianity embraced, civilization 
would make rapid progress, and the richness of 
the soil would fill the lap of the industrious with 
an abundant supply of all the necessaries and 
most of the luxuries of life, however large the 
population might become. Fine crops of the 
different grains are annually raised, and pre- 
served in large clay pitchers, similar to those 
used in Ceylon. These are placed upon stones 
three feet from the ground. They are very 
large, measuring seven or eight feet in diameter 
in the largest part. The top is small, and cov- 
ered with a conical cap of thatch, which secures 
it from insects and dampness. A root resem- 
bling the sweet potato, is very plenty, as well as 
melons, papaws, apples, figs, pomegranates, and 
onions ; the latter grow very large, and are sweet 
and tender. Leather is so plenty at Soccatoo^ 



108 THE AFRICAN TRAVELLER. 

that a good bullock's hide, well tanned, sells for 
no more than ninepence of our money. 

Clara. Nobody need go barefoot for the 
want of leather, but I suppose the ladies would 
not like to hide their pretty painted toes with 
rings on them, in a pair of leather shoes. 

Byram. No, I presume they would not. 

Charles. Are there any towns, or cities near 
to Soccatoo 1 

Byram. Not in the immediate vicinity, for 
beyond the plantations around the city, innu- 
merable herds of cattle find pasturage, and then 
pools of stagnant water and immense swamps 
cover the country some distance, many months 
of the year. 

Janette. Is it healthy at Soccatoo ? 

Byram. Chills and fever are the most preva- 
lent sickness there. 

The unhealthiness of Africa is supposed to 
arise from the heat and moisture of the climate. 
When the marshy fens are drained, and the 
land cultivated, and the inhabitants industrious 
and cleanly, then and not till then will Africa 
be distinguished for the healthiness of its inhab- 
itants, and the salubrity of its climate. 

The work to be done for Africa is an arduous 
one, and will require the co-operation of all the 
friends of piety and humanity. More than a 
hundred languages, or dialects, are to be learned, 
and the Bible translated into them, or else one 
common language taught these different tribes 
and nations. \ 

The command to send or preach the gospel 



THE AFRICAN TRAVELLER. 109 

to all nations, must be obeyed in spite of all the 
obstacles still to be overcome. 

It will demand the efforts of the wisest and 
best men to devise ways and means for its ac- 
complishment, generous and benevolent hearts 
to furnish adequate means, and devoted, self-de- 
nying followers of the cross of Christ to volun- 
teer their services as preachers of salvation, 
translators of the Bible, and teachers of youth 
among that bewildered people, so long lost in 
the mazes of error and delusion. 

But are not a part of such servants training 
in the Sabbath schools for this very enterprise? 
Will not many of them soon come forward and 
call upon their fathers and brothers to aid, or 
accompany them in a mission of Christian mer- 
cy to the heart of Central Africa ? Charles, who 
knows but one day you may be called to blow 
the gospel trumpet to some of those whom I 
have been describing, and who are this mo- 
ment " sitting in the region and shadow of 
death?" 

Charles. I think I shall be willing to go if 
there is a prospect of doing good. After a long 
pause, Clara interrupted the silence by saying, 
" uncle Byram, will you please to repeat some 
of the African extempore songs you promised 
us?" 

Byram. I will leave with you these papers 
to read while I go to the office for half an hour. 
These will give you a sketch of Boo-Kaloom's 
history, and this the extempore song sung after 
his death. 



CHAPTER VIII. 

" Almighty God, thy power assume* 
Who wast, and art, and art to come ; 
Jesus, the Lamb, who once was slain, 
Forever live — forever reign ! " 

" Charles, do read the history of Boo-Kaloorr* 
first," said Janette as she drew her stool up close 
to her brother's chair. 

Charles. (Reads.) Boo-Kaloom was a Moorish 
merchant, extensively known, as he was em- 
ployed to escort English travellers across the 
desert. The last service of the kind he ever 
performed, was to conduct Major Denham to 
Bornou, at the request of the bashaw of Tripoli. 
His fondness for show and parade were pecu- 
liarly striking. When he prepared to accom- 
pany the party sent out by El-Kanemy, his 
splendid appearance was very captivating to the 
natives. He rode a beautiful white Tunisian 
horse, upon a saddle the pommel and peak of 
which were fine gold, with scarlet housings 
trimmed with gold fringe six inches wide. His 
own dress was a blue silk tqnick, yellow silk 



THE AFRICAN TRAVELLER. \}\ 

loose trowsers, scarlet velvet vest, with gold but- 
tons, a thin white short robe over the blue tu- 
nick, and a rich scarlet scarf, with broad gold 
fringe on the edges ; a superb cashmere shawl 
turban upon the head completed his dress. He 
was so very popular, that when the tidings of his 
approach reached a town or city in the interior, 
half of the inhabitants poured out to meet and 
welcome him with shouts, songs, and dances. 
Major Denham and Boo-Kaloom were both in- 
duced to accompany Ei-Kanemy, the sultan of 
Bornou, upon a war expedition to Mandara, an 
adjoining kingdom. In attempting to take a 
town defended by the Felattahs, he was wound- 
ed in the foot by a poisoned arrow, which in a 
few hours closed his earthly career. 

When the tidings of his death were announc- 
ed at Fezzan, the following song was composed 
and every where sung. 

" Oh trust not to the gun and the sword ! 
The spear of the unbeliever prevails! 

" Boo-Kaloom, the good and the brave, has 
fallen ! Who shall be safe ! Even as the moon 
amongst the little stars, so was Boo-Kaloom 
amongst men ! 

" Where shall Fezzan now look for her pro- 
tector ? Men hang their heads in sorrow, while 
women wring their hands, rending the air with 
their cries ! As a shepherd is to his flock, so is 
Boo-Kaloom to Fezzan ! 

" Give him songs ! give him music ! What 



11-2 THE AFRICAN TRAVELLER. 

words can equal bis praise ! His heart was 
large as the desert ! His coffers were like the 
rich overflowings from the udder of the she- 
camel, comforting and nourishing those around 
him ! 

" Even as the flowers without rain perish in the 
field, so will Fezzan droop ; for Boo-Kaloom re- 
turns no more ! His body lies in the land of the 
heathen ! The poisoned arrow of the unbeliever 
prevails ! 

" Oh ! trust not to the gun and the sword ! 
the spear of the heathen conquers. Boo-Ka- 
loom, the good and the brave, has fallen ! who 
shall now be safe." 

Mr. Spencer returned sooner than the chil- 
dren had expected, and he felt a little surprised 
to see the effects of this eulogy upon their coun- 
tenances. Mrs. Granville and Miss Caroline 
were with them, and it was evident their sensi- 
bilities were deeply awakened. Said Mr. Spen- 
cer, " Arab songs are daily sung by every class 
of persons, and upon almost every occasional 
change of circumstances. 

"The sultans and sheiks of Central Africa 
have their deeds of glory and conquest celebra- 
ted by their followers in the same way, as well 
as the deeds and victories of their ancestors. 

" Several years ago, El Kanemy, of Bornou, 
returned victorious from a bloody war with the 
people of Begharmy, singing an extemporaneous 
song, which was instantly caught by his sub- 



THE AFRICAN TRAVELLER. ijg 

jects, and echoed through the empire. I can 
repeat a great part of it." 

Charles and Clara. Do, uncle, do ; please to 
repeat every word of it. 

" I return to my people, the people of my 
heart, the children of my solicitude! At break 
of day fasting, coming towards Kauka, with my 
morning prayer upon my lips, in sight of the 
gate, the gate that saw me depart ! The morn- 
ing wind blew fresh and cool, yet mild as the 
evening breeze. The battle of spears had been 
doubtful ; but had ended in glory ! had covered 
my people with honor, and victory. Oh ! glori- 
ous expedition ! " 

He then mentions the recovery of a favorite 
wife from her captors, expatiates upon her beau- 
ty and matchless worth, with all the fire of the 
poet, and the ardor of the lover, and passionately 
exclaims, " Let this my joy be proclaimed to 
all my people. Let them take my blessing, and 
give me congratulation ! Their chief is alive, 
and returns victorious ! All my people, even 
little children, shall sing these our deeds; all 
must share in the joy of their chief, as well as 
those whose age prevents their sharing my glo- 
ries, as those who have yet to learn the path of 
heroes ! 

" Those who stood against us are overcome ! 
they are fallen, and their towns are in ruins ! In 
the open day, by the light of the sun, the chil- 
10 



] 14 THE AFRICAN TRAVELLER. 

dren of the prophet (meaning Mohammed) trod 
them under foot! And now we approach our 
homes ! Towards the rising sun we followed 
them ; they fled ! they were destroyed ! they 
bled ! and they were bound ! On the fifth day 
of the week, blessed be the day ! the standards 
of the prophet floated on the wind ! The light- 
nings of my spears played around them ! like 
thunder to the unbelievers! They fell! The 
earth claimed them once more, and drank their 
blood ! From the morning to the black night 
we pursued them ; and their blood was as food 
and refreshment to my strong-armed chiefs ! 
Their women, their cattle, and their horses 
were amongst our spoils ; and he, who, at the 
rising of the sun, was surrounded by thousands 
of spears, he, the king, was, on the going down 
thereof, deprived of all ! He was left alone and 
deserted ! " 

The sultan then eulogizes his brave captains 
as follows : 

"David, my captain, my chosen captain, was 
covered with the blood of his enemies ! His gar- 
ments were of blood color ! He set his foot on 
the necks of the Kafirs, as he drew out his 
never failing spear, deep as it was in their gory 
forms ! while with his sword he still satisfied his 
unappeased wrath ! Forests of spears pierced 
our enemies ! Cowards on that day were brave ! 



THE AFRICAN TRAVELLER. US 

Who shall sing the deeds of my brave people, 
and do them justice! " 

" I might keep on an hour in this or a similar 
strain, but I am weary of it; it pains me to think 
of such perverted physical and intellectual pow- 
ers," said Mr. Spencer as he rose, and with 
hasty steps paced the room. " And yet," said 
Mrs. Granville, "this perversion must be seen 
and felt before an adequate remedy will ever be 
applied." 

Byram. I know it ; and on that account I 
have taken some pains to make your children 
acquainted with the geographical situation, and 
the moral condition of Central Africa, its politi- 
cal economy, and the domestic customs, habits, 
and manners of several of the most prominent 
nations. 

If their hearts are capable of sympathizing 
with the oppressed and degraded inhabitants of 
that portion of the globe, they have heard enough 
to rouse them to effort in one form or another 
to pour the light of revelation upon its dark- 
ness. 

3frs. Granville. Before you returned home, 
we spent many hours in giving them informa- 
tion concerning the western coast of Africa, 
connected with the slave-trade, the Colonization 
Society, and the colonies of Liberia and Sierra 
Leone, and sister Caroline had engaged to con- 
tinue relating events that had transpired in that 
country, and to describe its inhabitants ; but 
you have interested them quite as much, and 



116 THE AFRICAN TRAVELLER. 

given them a more detailed account, than they 
had anticipated from her. 

By ram. When I began, I had no thought of 
continuing the subject so long; but the fact is, 
when a person sits down to look at Africa, he 
becomes so absorbed in her sorrows, and woes, 
and sees so much to be done for her everlasting 
welfare through the agency of man, that he can 
talk or dream of little else. 

Janette. Oh, uncle, I do not wish you to 
talk of anything else at present, but I am will- 
ing you should dream about other things, as 
much as you please. 

Clara. We shall wish to hear all you and 
aunt Caroline can tell us, about this great coun- 
try. 

Charles. I should like to know as much as 
can be known about the Niger's course ; though, 
I believe, uncle, you do not call that river 
Niger ? 

Byram. It has been called by so many 
names, that one can hardly find a new one ; 
however, the names Niger, Qualla, Joliba, and 
many others have been nearly discarded, and 
on Finley's new map of Africa, he uniformly 
calls it Kowara ; and I now usually speak of 
it by the same. 

The only problem that remains to be solved 
with regard to this formerly mysterious river is, 
whether, after its southern course as far as 
Funda, " it penetrates the granite mountains, 
and is identical with the Formosa of Benin, or 



THE AFRICAN TRAVELLER. l\J 

whether it turns off from them to the eastward, 
and under the name of Sharv, falls into the 
lake Tchad." 

Janette. I think of one thing, uncle Byram, 
that I should like to see, which I believe you 
have not described, and that is, a wedding in 
Africa. 

Clara. And when we have heard that, let 
us know more about the funerals. 

Byram. They are conducted so differently 
in some nations, from what they are in others, 
that I could not describe either, in a way appli- 
cable to the whole country. As a general thing, 
African funerals are attended with much howl- 
ing and singing ; jugglers and executioners 
alternately find employment; and it is not uncom- 
mon for the former to make the credulous 
relatives believe that the deceased has accused 
some person as the author of his death. 

The blood of human victims is often shed 
upon the graves of the rich and honorable, but 
I will relate more particulars, when I describe 
to you the kingdoms of Dahomy and Ashantee. 
And as to weddings, Janette, I believe a Fez- 
zan wedding after the Arab fashion must con- 
tent you for the present. The couples are 
betrothed, as in the land of Palestine, which 
often leaves a space of several years before the 
marriage is solemnized. But when the wedding 
day arrives, it is ushered in by a serenade of the 
bride with drums, bagpipes, and other fashion- 
able instruments, and also the bridegroom, who 
10* 



118 THE AFRICAN TRAVELLER. 

soon appears dressed in his best apparel, and 
walks forth with the whole town at his heels. 
During this ramble, the house where the bride 
resides is filled with gaily dressed women, look- 
ing into the court, through holes cut in the 
walls of the house in lieu of windows. The 
wardrobe of the bride is carried to the house- 
top, and displayed to the admiring gaze of the 
company assembled in the court below. The 
bride stands in front of the largest window, veiled 
with a kind of mantle, called a barracan, and 
the young chiefs are allowed to salute her. The 
dancing women preceding, the whole party pay 
their respects to the bride outside the window. 

As the lady speaks to one and another of the 
guests, the women in the room with her, cry 
"loo! loo! loo!" the gentlemen in the mean 
time surveying the whole circle of beauties, who, 
almost without exception, possess teeth of un- 
rivalled whiteness, and bright, sparkling black 
eyes. 

Some one of the most distinguished persons 
makes the bride a present, which is immediately 
shown, and the donor applauded in proportion 
to the value of the gift. Every gentleman dis- 
charges his musket, as he leaves the court, and 
when the company have dispersed, the bride is 
seated in a Jaafa, a basket work chair, and 
placed on the back of a camel; a canopy of gay 
shawls or skins ornamented with feathers, and 
other finery is raised over her head, and the 
procession forms. After passing round the town 



THE AFRICAN TRAVELLER. H9 

once, the cavalcade stops, and the bridegroom 
passes through the crowd to speak to the bride, 
and the negresses, her attendants, scream out in 
concert, " Burra ! Burra!" be off! be off! 
and running after him to the great amusement 
of the spectators. 

When the bride arrives at the house of the 
bridegroom, she refuses to dismount : the women 
scream, and the men shout ; but after much 
coaxing she consents to be taken from the 
camel, and is led into the house, and the bride- 
groom puts a lump of sugar into her mouth, and 
then she takes a lump into her fingers and drops 
it into his mouth ; they are then pronounced 
husband and wife, and the party sit down to the 
wedding feast. 

Clara. I should admire to ride on a camel's 
back under a brilliant canopy. How high are 
they, uncle ? 

By ram. Nine and ten feet high. I think 
you would not be so well pleased with camel 
riding as you seem to think, for it is very 
fatiguing. 

Clara. Because they travel so fast ? 

Byram. No ; in their common pace they 
get over only about three miles an hour ; but 
this is when travelling in a caravan under a 
heavy load — when put upon a trot, the kind 
called maheries, are exceedingly swift. 

The Moors raise great numbers of them, and 
sell to the negroes. They are capable of sus- 



120 THE AFRICAN TRAVELLER, 

taining the most astonishing abstinence and 
the greatest fatigue. 

Clara. What is their color ? 

Byram. Mostly brown and ash. When they 
get too old to labor, the Moors eat them. They 
preserve their vigor about forty years, though 
many of them that are well treated, live to be 
sixty. They are in fine order for service at 
eight years old, and sell for about fifty dollars. 
Camels hair mixed with wool, is spun, and 
made into a coarse cloth, used for tents, and 
garments. The hair is spun upon a hand spin- 
dle, and when a large fresh pasturage is found, 
the Arab women weave it in a very rude manner. 

Clara. Can you describe the method ? 

Byram. The threads that compose the warp 
are stretched upon a number of parallel pegs, 
and a long wooden needle is passed through 
them, in the same way that a shuttle passes, ex- 
cept that every other thread must be taken up 
by a distinct effort, instead of being properly 
adjusted by treadles. But as civilization advan- 
ces, all these difficulties will vanish away. 

I shall defer an account of Dahomy and 
Ashantee for the present. 

Janette. I shall not soon forget what you 
have told me already, of the different states and 
kingdoms of Central Africa. 



CHAPTER, IX. 

" Now let the angel sound on high, 

Let shouts be heard through all the sky ; 
Kings of the earth, with glad accord, 
Give up your kingdoms to the Lord." 

" I nave got to sew this long seam, uncle 
Byram, before tea," said Clara, " and will you 
not talk to us about Dahomy or Ashantee? you 
see how our fingers are all busy, and our ears 
idle." 

Byram. Yes, I will ; but if I tell you half 
that the truth would warrant, the blood will 
chill in your veins. 

Janette and Clara. Don't keep anything back, 
let us know the worst. 

Byram. I fear it will lead you to think their 
condition remediless, and discourage you from 
attempting their rescue from the power of such 
cruel and degrading superstitions. 

Janette. No, I think it will not, uncle. 

Byram. The present kingdom of Dahomy 
is composed of several small states near the sea- 
coast ; though Abomey, the capital, is more 
than eighty miles from the sea. The king 



122 THE AFRICAN TRAVELLER, 

raised himself by his conquests from a small 
proprietor, to that of a great monarch. He re- 
sides mostly at CI am in a, and Agon a, where he 
has built two pleasure houses. These are only 
a better sort of cottages in the midst of an ex- 
tensive park surrounded by a wall. 

Clara. What is a park, uncle ? 

Byram. A piece of ground enclosed where 
wild game is kept. 

About the king's residence, there are eight 
hundred or a thousand women armed with 
muskets and javelins, who form the king's 
guard ; and from these, he selects his aids-de- 
camp and messengers. 

His ministers are required to leave their robes 
at the gate of the palace, and approach the 
throne, walking on all fours, with their heads 
covered with dust. 

The cruelty and ferocity of the king exceeds 
his despotism and arrogance. Mr. Dalzel said 
he found the path leading to the cottages I 
have described, strewed with human skulls, and 
the walls of his pleasure houses decorated with 
jaw-bones. And Mr. Bruns and Mr. Norris 
relate, if possible, still more horrid scenes. 

Janttie. I can hardly conceive anything 
more horrible. 

Byram. I think the sight of the fresh heads 
which are taken from the enemies on the field 
of battle, and scattered over the ground, for the 
brutal monarch to walk over in solemn pomp, is 
rather more appalling. 



THE AFRICAN TRAVELLER. 123 

At some of the national festivals, at which 
every subject brings a present for the king, he 
washes the royal tomb in human blood. The 
bodies of fifty men are scattered about the sep- 
ulchre, and the same number of heads elevated 
on poles ; their blood is carried to his majesty, 
and he dips his finger into it and carries it to 
his mouth. The widows of deceased monarchs 
destroy each other till the new sovereign passes 
an edict to check the murders. 

Janeite. How can his subjects suffer such 
scenes to be acted ? 

By ram. Mr. Isert says they enjoy and ap- 
plaud them, and with great satisfaction tear the 
victims in pieces. All the children born in the 
kingdom are considered the absolute property of 
the king, and educated according to his direc- 
tions. Every subject is literally a slave. 

Charles. Are they disciples of Mohammed, 
or idolaters ? 

By ram. They are idolaters, I presume ; for 
their dwellings contain ugly images besmeared 
with blood, and decorated with gaudy feathers. 

Poets and minstrels are the historians of the 
country, and they celebrate the deeds of the 
king and his warriors in the same strains that 
El Kanemy rehearsed his victories after his re- 
turn from the Begharmy war. The Dahomans 
exhibit a strange mixture of ferocity and cour- 
tesy, of hospitality and barbarity. 

Charles. Is it a barren or fruitful country ? 

By ram. It is a very rich and fruitful one. 



124 THE AFRICAN TRAVELLER. 

The fields are clothed with the most luxuriant 
herbage, and the plains studded with towns and 
villages, gently ascending as you retire from the 
coast. Plantations of cotton, corn, sugar-cane, 
and tobacco, are every where to be seen ; and 
when these abominable temples shall be demo- 
lished, and churches, hospitals, schools, and 
courts of justice occupy their places, it will be 
a delightful country to live in. The present 
generation, I trust, will prepare the way of the 
Lord among many of these savage tribes. 

Charles. Are the nations around Dahomy, 
equally bloody and cruel? 

Byram. Benin is quite as barbarous, and the 
customs as savage ; it is said that there are 
many cannibals in the central part of the king- 
dom. 

I could name several provinces where the 
natives are cannibals, and so barbarous that 
they greedily eat such things as you would shud- 
der to think of. 

Janette. What sort of things, uncle ; you 
need not keep back anything, after what we 
have heard already. 

Byram. Such as dog's meat, caterpillars 
fried in butter, locusts cooked in the same way, 
and black ants just before they can fly, are 
anxiously sought after, besides cats, rats, mice, 
and a hundred other articles equally revolting 
and disgusting to our feelings. On one occa- 
sion Richard Lander was present when they 
made a god, and this circumstance occasioned a 



THE AFRICAN TRAVELLER. 125 

feast, to which he was invited ; it was composed 
of two dishes, the first a roasted dog, and the 
second a large snake stewed in oil, and served 
with boiled corn ; the corn was put into bowls, 
and a nice bit of the snake laid upon the top of 
each one's mess. But I forbear scrutinizing 
any more dishes, and will now turn your atten- 
tion to the kingdom of Ashantee, which stands 
pre-eminent in wealth and power, It has been 
known to Europe nearly a century and a half, 
but no army from that country had ever visited 
the coast till about thirty years ago. You will 
find Coomasie, the capital, situated between one 
and two hundred miles from cape Coast, if you 
consult your map. 

Charles. Here it is ; which w r ay should I go 
to it from the coast ? 

Byram. The most direct way is through the 
Fantee territory, which contains numerous villa- 
ges of neat huts and beautiful plantations ; the 
soil is very rich, and the vegetation extremely 
luxuriant. Sometimes the path is obstructed by 
fallen trees, of immense size, which renders 
travelling slow and difficult. 

Almost every tree is mantled with a creeping 
vine, which, in the woody parts of the country, 
make the paths almost impassable, for, spreading 
from tree to tree, they become so entangled and 
matted, as to require a pioneer to keep the way 
open. The vines are about the size of a small 
cable, and remarkably tough. The palms and 
11 



120 THE AFRICAN TRAVELLER. 

tamarind-trees border nearly all the small fivers, 
and doom, iron, and cotton-trees are plenty. 

Charles. How large is the tamarind-tree, and 
how does it look ? 

Byram. In the East Indies, some parts of 
South America and Africa, it is a large tree, and 
affords good timber ; the body is large, and the 
branches are numerous ; the leaves are like the 
mountain-ash, but of a brighter green ; the 
flowers come out of the sides of the branches in 
loose bunches, and are soon followed by pods, of 
which there are usually five or six in a cluster, 
about six inches long, in the countries I have 
mentioned, but not more than half as long in the 
West Indies. Its appearance is light and ele- 
gant, and it is highly prized as a shade tree. 

About forty tons of preserved tamarinds are 
imported into England, annually ; the quantity 
imported into the United States is large, but I 
do not know the precise amount. This is one 
of the most populous states of Central Africa 
containing at least a million of inhabitants 
and the Ashantees estimate the people of Coo 
masie at one hundred thousand. The men are 
well made, and many of the women have beauti 
ful forms, and handsome faces, with Grecian 
features, and brilliant eyes. The higher classes 
are very neat in their persons, houses, and plan- 
tations. The king has of late been busily en- 
gaged in planning a house for himself, to be 
roofed with " brass pans beaten into flat sur- 
faces, and laid over an ivory frame work, ap- 



THE AFRICAN TRAVELLER. 127 

pearing within. The windows and doors to be 
cased in gold, and the door-posts and pillars of 
ivory. ,; 

Charles. It will be very splendid ! How are 
the common houses built? 

Byram. They have plastered walls made of 
gravelly clay, the roofs are made of bamboo 
frame work covered with a thatch of palm leaves. 
Piazzas and arcades, or continued arches, are 
very common. 

The domestic state of the country is deplora- 
ble : marriage is dissolved at pleasure, by the 
relations of the wife returning to the husband 
all the wedding presents. 

The husband never interferes in the disposi- 
tion of property received by his wife from her 
family connections, but she is left to enjoy it as 
best suits her fancy ; neither does he interest 
himself in her quarrels and law-suits, however 
numerous they may be. 

Caroline. He would have his hands full if 
he did, for I am told the number of wives ex- 
ceeds the belief of most people. 

Janette. What is their style of dress? 

Byram. Persons high in office wear the 
richest Ashantee cloth, which is woven in a 
loom after the English model, but instead of 
treadles, the weavers have strings tied to their 
toes to work the web, which never is more than 
four inches wide, but the seams are not dis- 
coverable. The most costly foreign silks are 
unravelled to furnish variety of shades and 



128 THE AFRICAN TRAVELLER. 

colors, as well as patterns. These cloths are 
of a large size, and very heavy and expensive ; 
they are thrown over the shoulder like the toga 
worn by the ancient Romans. Small silk fillets 
are bound round the temples, and gold neck- 
laces, and aggry beads of unusual length ; the 
knee is encircled by a band of beads and gold ; 
you must recollect that I am now describing the 
caboceers, superior captains, and their atten- 
dants. No nation can be more given to super- 
stition than the Ashantee, and the Moorish 
charms enclosed in cases of gold, silver, and 
embroidery are mixed with their other decora- 
tions so as to form a considerable part of their 
ornaments. 

A few years ago, Dr. Bowditch visited the 
capital, to conciliate the proud and despotic 
king, and if possible, to propitiate an extension 
of commerce. He was accompanied from cape 
Coast castle by three gentlemen appointed by the 
governor of the English fort. As they entered 
Coomasie, they passed under a dead sheep, 
which had been sacrificed ; it was rolled up in 
red silk, and suspended between two highly ele- 
vated poles, forming a sort of triumphal arch. 
Between five and six thousand people, preceded 
by innumerable drums, horns and rattles, met 
them ; mostly in the habiliments of war. The 
awful din of the discordant instruments, and the 
perpetual discharge of musketry were almost 
overwhelming. When the host halted, the 
captains performed a dance in the centre of an 



THE AFRICAN TRAVELLER. 129 

immense circle of warriors, while the flags of 
several nations waved over them, the bearers 
jumping and plunging in the midst of them. 

You can hardly form the faintest conception 
of the scene ; the warriors caps had gilded 
rams horns in front, and on either side eagles' 
plumes of immense size, projected beyond all pro- 
portion and were confined under the chin. The 
vest of red cloth covered with charms, intermix- 
ed with little bells, flapping in every direction 
as they danced ; long leopard's tails, horns of 
various animals, shells, and small knives dangled 
before and behind ; and over the large white 
cotton trowsers, with enormous boots of a dull 
red leather, reaching half way from the knee to 
the hip were fastened to the belt by chains. Bells, 
horse-tails, and strings of charms ornamented 
the huge boots, and with the quiver of poisoned 
arrows attached to the wrists, the long iron 
chain held between their teeth, and a spear 
wrapped in red cloth with silk tassels, gave them 
a look scarcely human. At the end of half an 
hour, the procession moved on through streets 
lined and almost choked up with spectators, 
the houses all open filled with the higher ranks 
of females, all equally eager to behold the won- 
derful white men for the first time in their lives. 
Their exclamations and strange gestures were 
all in keeping with the music, firing, and other 
parts of the exhibition. 

Clara. I can never sew while hearing of 
such splendid parades as this, uncle. How I 
11* 



130 THE AFRICAN TRAVELLER. 

should have enjoyed it : did not the strangers 
laugh immoderately ? 

Byram> I do not know ; but if they did, I 
presume their mirth was turned into amazement, 
when they were at length drawn up in front of 
a large house more than a mile within the city, 
and saw a poor wretch preparing for sacrifice. 
His hands were tied behind him, a knife was 
thrust through his cheeks, to which his lips 
were tied, one ear was carried before him, and 
the other hung from his head by a narrow slip 
of skin, a knife was thrust under each shoulder, 
and his back was cut in long gashes. He was 
led by a cord put through his nose, by men so 
disfigured, that they resembled demons. After 
marching about a quarter of a mile further, 
through a broad street they came to the market- 
place, which occupied an open space a mile in 
circumference. In a central situation the king 
surrounded by the most magnificent display of 
gold and jewels which almost literally covered 
his unnumbered warriors, officers of state and 
other attendants. More than a hundred bands 
of music greeted the arrival of the embassy, with 
almost unearthly strains, and hundreds of um- 
brellas or canopies, spacious enough to shelter 
thirty persons, were yerked up and down by 
slaves with great effect. They were of the most 
gaudy colors, of a variety of forms, though the 
dome-like prevailed ; little looking-glasses were 
inserted here and there in the valances, and 
when dazzling in the sun, it was bewildering 



THE AFRICAN TRAVELLER. 131 

to look at them. It would be hardly possible 
for me to describe the whole assemblage par- 
ticularly. 

Janette. Tell us as much as you can remem- 
ber, I entreat you. 

Byram. The tops and valances of three 
umbrellas, were indescribable, for some of them 
were crowned with little elephants, crescents, 
pellicans, and swords of wrought gold. The 
state hammocks, carried on poles placed on the 
bearers heads with cushions, pillars and cover- 
ing of common taffeta, (a rich silk.) 

Charles. What did the gentlemen do with 
themselves ? 

Byram. The king's messengers with gold 
breast plates, made way for thern to advance, 
and pay their respects to all the caboceers 
and great men, whose glittering ornaments were 
so unwieldy as to require the support of boys, 
who bore upon their heads the left hands of the 
nobles, with all the lumps of rock gold attached 
to them. Their swords had the heads of wolves 
and rams, as large as life, cast in gold, suspend- 
ed from the handles which were of the same 
metal, the blades were covered with the rust of 
blood. Huge drums braced on the sides with 
the thigh bones of their enemies, and ornament- 
ed with their skulls. Kettle drums, covered 
with leopard skins, were scraped with wet 
fingers; smaller drums were suspended from 
the neck on scarfs of scarlet silk, and the wrists 
of the performers hung round with bells, old 



132 THE AFRICAN TRAVELLED. 

iron, and whatever would help gingle. The 
trumpets were adorned with gold and the jaw- 
bones of their fellow men. The chairs on 
which the dignitaries of the land were seated, 
were of black wood, inlaid with ivory and gold • 
behind them handsome boys clad in leopard 
skins, silk scarfs, and a waist-cloth studded with 
gold cockle shells, and stuck full of little knives 
in colored leather, gold and silver sheathes, with 
other weapons, and trappings equally suited to 
the barbaric splendor of the court. Pretty girls 
waited behind the chairs of others holding silver 
basins, dressed as gaily as the boys; little chil- 
dren sat in groups flourishing elephants tails 
with curious handles, and near them large 
companies of warriors seated so closely on the 
ground, that it was impossible to walk among 
them without trampling on their feet, to which 
they seemed insensible ; their caps had the tails 
of animals fastened behind, which reached half 
way down their backs. Their faces and arms 
were tattooed in stripes, and appeared like ar- 
mor. 

In the midst of this great assembly appeared 
seventeen Moors, with their attendants. The 
superiors wore large white satin cloaks, trim- 
med with spangled embroidery, silk robe and 
loose trowsers, with large muslin turbans glitter- 
ing with precious stones. 

Dr. Bowditch gives a very minute description 
of the different officers of the royal household ; 
among others the cook made a rich display of 



THE AFRICAN TRAVELLER. 133 

silver punchbowls, coffee pots, tankerds and 
other articles of Portuguese workmanship. 
" The executioner of immense size, wore a 
massy gold hatchet on his breast ; and the exe- 
cution stool was held before him clotted in 
blood, and partly covered with a caul of fat." 

The king's blow-pan, pipes, boxes, scales, and 
weights were of solid gold, and in charge of the 
keeper of the treasury. In speaking of the 
king who condescended to take his hand, Dr. 
Bowditch says, " His manners were majestic, 
yet courteous ; and he did not allow his surprise 
to beguile him for a moment of the composure 
of the monarch ; he appeared to be about thirty- 
eight years of age, inclined to corpulence, and 
of a benevolent countenance." His ornaments 
were similar to those worn by his caboceers 
which I have already described with the addi- 
tion of a " cloth of dark green silk ; a pointed 
diadem elegantly painted in white upon his jetty 
forehead ; also a pattern resembling an epau- 
lette on each shoulder, and an ornament like a 
full blown rose, one leaf rising above another 
until it covered his whole breast ; his sandals of 
soft white leather was embossed across the in- 
step band, with small gold and silver cases 
of saphie charms" The Dr. says, " We pur- 
sued our course through this blazing circle, 
which afforded to the last a variety exceeding 
description and memory, so many splendid 
novelties, diverting the fatigue, heat, and pres- 
sure we were laboring under ; we were almost 



134 THE AFRICAN TRAVELLER. 

exhausted ; however, by the time we reached the 
end, when, instead of being conducted to our 
residence, we were desired to seat ourselves 
under a tree at some distance to receive the 
compliments of the whole in our turn." 

Janette. I hope, uncle, you won't leave out 
a single circumstance that occurred. 

By ram. I must wait till after tea then, for 
I am too weary to talk any longer. 

Caroline. The king you have described 
could not be Opoccoo, I think. 

Byram. No indeed, you know he is de- 
scribed by the Danes as tall and extremely lean ; 
whereas the present king is inclined to corpu- 
lency. There is probably as much barbarous 
pride displayed now, as in the days of Opoccoo's 
glory ; and very little more indications of civili- 
zation. 

Clara. I know you are weary, uncle ; but 
I cannot relish my tea until I know something 
more about this " tall and lean king." 

Byram. You must have all I know about 
him in short hand then, for the tea is coming 
on the table now. 

He sat upon a throne of massy gold, his body 
smeared over with tallow mixed up with gold 
dust, and dressed in a sash of gold embroidered 
cloth ; an English hat bound with a broad gold 
lace, and from head to foot covered with chains 
of gold, aggry beads, cornelians, agates, and 
other precious jewels crowded into bracelets, 
rings, &c. His feet rested on a basin of pure 



THE AFRICAN TRAVELLER. 135 

gold, and the nobles of the realm lay prostrate 
before him covered with dust. 

Great numbers of the complaining and ac- 
cused lay in the same posture, while twenty 
executioners with drawn swords waited the 
royal signal to sever their heads from their 
bodies. After he had conquered the king of 
Akim, and received his bleeding head, he adorn- 
ed it with jewels and spoke to it thus. " Be- 
hold him laid in the dust, this great monarch, 
who had no equal in the universe except God 
and me ! He was certainly the third. Oh, my 
brother, why could'st not thou have acknow- 
ledged thyself my inferior ? But thou hoped'st 
to find an opportunity of killing me : thou 
thought'st that there ought not to be more than 
one great man in the world. Thy sentiment 
was not to be blamed ; it is one in which all 
mighty kings ought to participate." 

I will finish my account of Ashantee this 
evening. 

Janette. Uncle, who told you about this 
king? 

Byram. Mr. Roemer ; I have used in part, 
his own words. 

The king conquered by Opoccoo was as fero- 
cious as himself, and his subjects so sanguinary, 
that, at the death of another of their kings, they 
sacrificed several thousand of his slaves upon 
his tomb, his prime minister, and between three 
and four hundred of his wives ! The bones of 



136 THE AFRICAN TRAVELLER. 

all these victims were broken, and then they were 

buried alive ! 

Charles, Where did this happen 1 

Byram. In Akim, a small state adjoining 

Ashantee. 



CHAPTER. X. 



"Ail ye nations, join and sing*, 
- Christ of lords and kings is King ! 
Let it sound from shore to shore, 
Jesus reigns for evermore ! " 



" You left the English embassy sitting under 
a tree, uncle Byram," said Clara soon after tea. 
By ram. And there they continued to sit till 
the warlike deeds of the principal chiefs were 
sung in the loudest strains by their poetic follow- 
ers, each striving to exalt his own above all other 
chiefs. Little caboceers not more than six, eight, 
and ten years old, covered with the most costly 
and brilliant ornaments, were carried past them 
upon the shoulders of slaves, with elegant can- 
opies over their heads. Several aged chiefs 
were honored with the same conveyance. Some 
danced by with irresistible buffoonery, some 
with a gesture and carriage of defiance. One of 
the most distinguished stopped before them, and 
went through all the movements of a regular 
war-dance, brandishing his spear, after the man- 
12 



138 THE AFRICAN TRAVELLER. 

ner of the north western Indians. Order and 
dignity were observed by far the largest number, 
and the Moors vouchsafed them a blessing. It 
was nearly eight in the evening before the king 
approached; he made a few inquiries; his aunts, 
sisters, and other relatives followed him. The 
king's immediate train was preceded by torches 
carried by boys and soldiers, with trophies of 
human skulls of vanquished caboceers. Thirty 
thousand warriors at least were present on this 
occasion. 

Charles. Were not the strangers provided 
with comfortable accommodations by the king? 

By ram. " A range of spacious but ruined 
buildings" was assigned them. The king's 
palace is an immense pile of buildings, courts, 
squares, arcades, and some large pleasant rooms, 
furnished with embroidered chairs, stools, and 
couches. The women's apartments were the 
most retired, and finished in higher style, than 
the more public ones. Within the central 
square is the council chamber. The govern- 
ment of Ashantee is now administered by the 
king, four nobles, and the assembly of captains ; 
though the king's authority is absolute. He is 
heir to all the gold of his subjects whether rich 
or poor. Sometimes his majesty has his dinner 
served in the palace garden, under a long range 
of enormous umbrellas ; he uses silver hafted 
knives and forks and silver spoons. His cooks 
roast pigs, ducks, and fowls nearly as well as 
the English, and they excel in making puddings* 



THE AFRICAN TRAVELLER. 139 

soups, and other dishes, which are all brought 
to the table in silver platters and dishes. Oran- 
ges and other tropical fruits are daily set before 
him, with wines, cordials and spirits in profu- 
sion. 

Charles. This does not seem to correspond 
with most barbarous and heathen establishments. 

Byram. I know it; civilization has made 
considerable advances; agriculture and the me- 
chanic arts flourish considerably, but they are 
destitute of moral principle, and respecting the 
world to come, are involved in Egyptian dark- 
ness. 

They believe that the kings and nobles after 
death, go and reside with a superior divinity to 
any they worship here, but in the same condi- 
tion they were in on earth. At their death, multi- 
tudes of men and women are sacrificed to min- 
ister to their wants and pleasures in the future 
world. 

The poor, at death, are supposed to inhabit 
fetich-houses, in a dull inactive state. The 
fetich-men in Ashantee are of two orders ; the 
first receive the predictions and commands of 
the gods ; and the lower, partake of the char- 
acter of common fortune-tellers, conjurers, jug- 
glers, and the like, every where found amongst 
heathen and ignorant people. 

This people have their lucky and unluckly 
days, and are as warmly attached to their 
fetiches, as any other nation in Africa. Their 
blind confidence in the power of the fetich to 



140 THE AFRICAN TRAVELLER. 

render the body invulnerable to powder and 
balls, and safe from every evil except sickness 
and death, the former of which they think is 
always alleviated by application to the fetich. 

They have several annual national festivals ; 
that of the " yam custom" commences in the 
early part of September. During its continu- 
ance, Coomasie is thronged with people from 
every part of Ashantee and the neighboring 
tributary states. At the entrance of the princi- 
pal caboceers, a slave is sacrificed at each 
quarter of the town. 

The place of meeting is the large area, where 
the English embassy was presented to the king. 
Dr. Bowditch was present at one of these anni- 
versaries, and I will describe part of the scene 
in his own words. 

The crush in the distance was awful and dis- 
tressing. All the heads of the kings and cabo- 
ceers whose kingdoms had been conquered, 
from Sai Tootoo to the present reign, with those 
of the chiefs who had been executed for subse- 
quent revolts, were displayed by two parties of 
executioners, who passed in an impassioned 
dance, some with the most irresistible grimace, 
some with the most frightful gesture : " they 
clashed their knives on the skulls, in which sprigs 
of thyme were inserted, to keep the spirits from 
troubling the king. I never felt so grateful for 
being born in a civilized country." Firing and 
drinking palm-wine preceded the presentation 
of the caboceers to the king : after being 



THE AFRICAN TRAVELLER. 14 J 

announced, they passed round the circle saluting 
every umbrella, bands of music marching before 
them. " The effect of the splendor, the tumult, 
and the musketry, was afterwards heightened 
by torch light. We left the ground at ten 
o'clock ; the umbrellas were crowded even in 
the distant streets ; the town was covered like a 
large fair, the broken sounds of distant horns 
and drums filled up the momentary pauses of 
the firing, which encircled us; the uproar con- 
tinued until four in the morning, just before 
which the king retired. 

The next morning the king ordered a large 
quantity of rum to be poured into brass pans, in 
various parts of the town, the crowd pressing 
around, and drinking like hogs ; freemen and 
slaves, women and children, striking, kicking, 
and trampling each other under foot, pushed head 
foremost into the pan, spilling much more than 
they drank. In less than an hour, excepting 
the principal men, not a sober person was to be 
seen ; parties of four reeling and rolling under 
the weight of another whom they affected to be 
carrying home ; strings of women covered with 
red paint, hand in hand, falling down like rows 
of cards ; the commonest mechanic and slaves 
furiously declaiming against state-palavers ; the 
most discordant music, the most obscene songs, 
children of both sexes prostrate in insensibility. 
All wore their handsomest clothes, which they 
trailed after them to a great length, in a drunken 
emulation of extravagance and dirtiness." 
12* 



142 THE AFRICAN TRAVELLER. 

Caroline. O, brother ! what a sad picture of 
human depravity, splendor, and wretchedness, 
you have exhibited. Power, wealth and magni- 
ficence were never more shamefully perverted ! 

By ram. True ; but is the Christian world 
without excuse? has it not had the power for 
centuries, to reclaim them ? We all fully un- 
derstand what means are to be used with suc- 
cess, and are we not guilty in neglecting them ? 

Clara. I am very certain that I know of no 
remedy that can cure them of their gross wick- 
edness and folly. 

Byram. Think a moment longer, my little 
girl, before you speak so strongly ; have you 
never read the history of the different American 
Missions ? 

Clara blushed deeply as she said, "Uncle 
Byram, I have, and there is one remedy, and 
only one, and that will one day heal all the 
nations of the earth. But how can that remedy 
be applied to Ashantee 1 

Byram. In the same way it has been ap- 
plied at Bombay, Ceylon, and other heathen 
countries. Christ must be preached and his 
gospel put into the hands of every heathen, in 
a language he can read and understand, and if 
he cannot read any language, he must be taught, 
and when this has been done in Ashantee, the 
wealth of that country will be applied to send 
the gospel (the only purifier of nations) to other 
lands as ignorant and polluted as theirs. 

Janette. Do let us hear the conclusion of 



THE AFRICAN TRAVELLER. 143 

the yam festival, and then talk about enlighten- 
ing them. 

By ram. Before it closes, about a hundred 
persons are sacrificed in various places within 
the town, and a considerable number of slaves a 
little way out of it, where a large brass pan 
receives their blood, to which is added vegeta- 
ble and animal substances of various kinds to 
complete a charm, and produce an invincible 
fetich. " AH the chiefs kill several slaves, that 
their blood may flow into the hole from whence 
the new yam is taken. Those who cannot af- 
ford to kill slaves, take the head of one already 
sacrificed, and place it on the hole." 

Horrid as these scenes appear to us, there are 
others exhibited at the death of great person- 
ages far more shocking to t every feeling of hu- 
manity. The death is no sooner announced by 
the discharge of musketry, than, " in &n instant 
you see a crowd of slaves burst from the house 
and run towards the bush, flattering themselves 
that the hindmost, or those surprised in the 
house, will furnish the human victims for sacri- 
fice, if they can but secrete themselves until the 
custom is over." 

Charles. Will you go through the ceremo- 
nies of an Ashantee funeral ? 

Byram. The corpse is dressed in silk and 
gold, with great splendor, and immediately two 
slaves are sacrificed at the entrance of the house. 
Troops of women assemble, and commence 
dancing ; their movements resemble skating ; 



144 THE AFRICAN TRAVELLER. 

in wailing accents, they chant forth the praises 
of the dead. These are followed by others 
bearing the clothes and riches of the deceased 
upon their heads in glittering brass pans. Their 
faces, arms, and hands daubed with red earth, 
in imitation of those more fortunate ones, who 
were able to apply the blood of the victims. 

In proportion to the crowd, the noise of the 
clanging of drums, and other rude instruments, 
the yelling, groaning, and screeching of the 
mob, rises, or falls. Intoxicating spirits are 
given lavishly, as the procession advances, and 
its effects are soon perceived in the increasing 
clamors of the dirge-singers, and the shouts and 
screams of the frenzied populace. 

Men and women in gay apparel, form circles, 
and dance, or rather waltz in a graceful manner ; 
for no nation moves in the mazy dance with 
more grace than the Ashantee. By the side of 
all this tumult and gaiety, the wretched victims 
are hurried along with knives stuck into their 
cheeks and backs, like the one seen by the 
English gentlemen when they first entered Coo- 
masie. When they reach the market-place, 
their heads and hands are lopped off by execu- 
tioners, who struggle and wrangle, each anxious 
for the pleasure of performing the operation. 

These skulls, rich cloth, and gold are thrown 
into the grave, and the basket containing the 
corpse is laid upon them, and a respectable 
freeman is knocked down and tumbled into the 
grave, which is instantly filled. No female con» 



THE AFRICAN TRAVELLER. 145 

nected with the family is allowed to eat for three 
days after the death, though they may drink as 
much palm- wine as they choose. 

These females close the funeral ceremonies 
by parading round the town, " singing a compli- 
ment, and thanks to all who have assisted in 
making the customs. y ' 

Charles, When a king dies, are the ceremo- 
nies the same? 

Byram. No, they are a great deal more 
cruel and disgusting. It would take up too 
much time to relate all I have heard respecting 
the interment of kings in Ashantee, but I will 
relate enough to give some idea of it. All the 
brothers of the king, his nephews, and cousins 
affect to be insane the moment he dies, and 
seizing their muskets, sally forth in the midst of 
the crowd, firing in every direction ; chiefs, no- 
bles, slaves, all fall promiscuously before him, 
and not the least notice is taken of these exces- 
ses. Sometimes what they call the " custom" 
is performed weekly for three months, and at 
each two hundred or more slaves murdered, and 
between twenty and thirty barrels of powder 
fired. 

There is a sepulchre at Bantama for kings 
only, where much sacred gold is buried with 
them; their bones are ultimately deposited in a 
building erected for that purpose, and exactly op- 
posite is a large brass pan, or bason measuring five 
feet across, with four little cast lions on its edge. 



246 THE AFRICAN TRAVELLER. 

Janette. For what use was it made, and 
placed there? 

Byrarn. To receive the blood of the victims 
which are sacrificed upon the occasion; it is 
considered the greatest honor to have the kings 
grave watered with human blood. 

To increase the courage, or rather thirst for 
blood in the young men , the fetich-men take out 
the hearts of prisoners of war, cut them up, and 
after mixing them with certain vegetables and 
human blood, perform a variety of incantations, 
and feed those young men who have never yet 
killed a fellow creature ; if they were to refuse 
compliance with this horrid rite, it is believed 
that the spirit of him whose heart has been of- 
fered, will haunt them till all their strength has 
wasted away. 

Like the savages of New Zealand, the king 
and nobles wear the bones, small joints, and 
teeth of their enemies, if they had been at all 
distinguished in life. 

Clara. Do they carry round the heads of 
the' vanquished like the cannibal .New Zeal an- 
ders? 

By ram. Yes, not only their heads, but the 
whole body, which they preserve by drying over 
a slow fire. 

Charles. How true it is that the " dark 
places of the earth are full of the habitations of 
cruelty." 

Byram. And equally true, that nothing but 
Bible truths can make these " dark places** 






THE AFRICAN TRAVELLER. 147 

light. But I have a few more facts to relate 
respecting human sacrifices in Ashantee, with 
horror enough in them " to turn the current of 
life backward. " Will you hear them, or shall 
I forbear to relate them ? 

All say together. Let us hear ! let us hear ! 
Are you sure they are true ? 

Byram. Yes, I had them from Mr. Hutchin- 
son, who witnessed the scenes I shall attempt to 
describe, with his own eyes. I will even use 
most of his own words. 

Besides the yam customs, the Ashantees have 
other anniversaries called the great and little 
adai custom ; at both of these celebrations 
many human beings fall victims to pride and 
superstition. When any public sacrifice is to 
take place, the ivory horns of the king proclaim 
at the palace door, ' wow ! wow ! wow ! ' — 
" death ! death ! death ! " and as they cut off 
their heads, the bands play a peculiar strain till 
the operation is finished. 

The greatest human sacrifice witnessed by 
Mr. Hutchinson during his residence at Coo- 
masie, was occasioned by a fancy of the king to 
try an experiment to propitiate his fetich, and 
make the war he was about to engage in, suc- 
cessful. The experiment was to disinter the 
bones of his mother, sisters, and other relations 
who had died after he came to the throne, and 
wash them in rum and water ! " After being 
wiped with silk, they were rolled in gold dust, 
and wrapped in strings of rock gold, aggry 



148 THE AFRICAN TRAVELLER. 

beads, and other things of the most costly na- 
ture. Those who had done anything to dis- 
please the king, were sent for in succession, and 
immolated as they entered, that their blood 
might water the graves. The whole of the night 
the king's executioners traversed the streets, 
and dragged every one they found to the place, 
where they were put in irons." 

The next evening, " as soon as it was dark, 
the human sacrifices were renewed, and during 
the night the royal bones were removed to the 
tomb at Bantama. The procession was splen- 
did, but not numerous. " Torches and bands of 
music preceded the victims, whose hands were 
tied behind them, loaded with chains. The 
bones followed, while songs of death and victory 
proved their wish to begin the war. " The pro- 
cession returned the next afternoon, when the 
king took his seat in the market-place with his 
small band, and ' death ! death ! death ! ' was 
echoed by his horns. He sat with a silver gob- 
let in his hand, and when they cut off any head, 
imitated a dancing motion in his chair; a littie 
before dark, he finished his terrors for that 
day." 

Clara. How many days did the sacrifices 
continue ? 

Byram. Seventeen days ; during which 
time Mr. Hutchinson dared not to send out a 
single servant to procure anything, though he 
was suffering from sickness occasioned by stand- 



THE AFRICAN TRAVELLER. 149 

ing in the sun to witness the scenes I have 
already described. 

Charles. Why did he fear to send them of 
an errand ? 

Byram. Lest they should be murdered by 
order of the king. 

Janette. Did Mr. Hutchinson know what 
would happen before it actually came to pass ? 

Byram. He told me that two days before, 
he had a mysterious intimation of it, from a per- 
son who said to him privately, " Christian, 
take care and watch your family ; the angel of 
death has drawn his sword, and will strike on 
the neck of many Ashantees; when the drum is 
struck, on Adai eve, it will be the death signal 
of many. Shun the king if you can, but fear 
not." 

Charles. It seems this gentleman's person 
was safe, during these awful solemnities ; would 
not a Christian mission be as likely to find 
safety as a political one ? 

Byram. I see no reason why it should not, 
Charles. Major Denham, captain Clapperton, 
Major Laing, John and Richard Lander, and 
many other travellers passed from one tribe to 
another, in a fearless manner, and in many in- 
stances received as flattering attentions as could 
have been desired. 

Had I suitable qualifications for a missionary, 
I should feel no hesitation in offering my ser- 
vices to carry the gospel to any kingdom, or 
tribe of Moslems, or heathen, from Tripoli to 
13 



1 50 THE AFRICAN TRAVELLER. 

Bornou ; or from Badagry to Soccatoo ; and 
whether it be not a most desirable object, to in- 
terest the scholars in the Sabbath schools in 
favor of African missions, I leave, children, to 
your consideration. 

Clara. Uncle By ram, I hope you are not 
going to leave us so ; I have not heard half I 
wish. 

Byram. Perhaps, I may one day relate more 
concerning Africa, if I live to return from 
another voyage. 

" Hark ! — the song of Jubilee, 

Loud — as mighty thunders roar ; 
Or the fullness of the sea, 

When it breaks upon the shore. 

See Jehovah's banners fuil'd ! 

Sheathed his sword — he speaks — 'tis done ! 
Now the kingdoms of this world 

Are the kingdoms of his Son. 

He shall reign from pole to pole, 

With supreme, unbounded sway ! 
He shall reign, when, like a scroll, 

Yonder heavens have passed away! 

Hallelujah ! for the Lord 

God omnipotent shall reign : 
Hallelujah !-— let the word 

Echo round the earth and main.' 5 











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